from the intelligence service and became keeper of the Weizmann
Archives in Rehovot, Israel.
After the 1973 Yom Kippur War, following the recommendation
of the Agranat Commission, a small Research Department was set
up in the Foreign Ministry with the aim of producing independent
political-strategic intelligence evaluations. Foreign Minister Yigal
Alon (1974–1977) wished to upgrade this department into an im-
portant political instrument that could change the status of the For-
eign Ministry and make it a significant actor in the domain of deci-
sion making on issues of foreign policy. Alon’s first step was to
change the name of the department to the Center for Political Plan-
ning and Research (CPPR)/Ha’Mahlaka Le’Mehkar Ve’Tikhnon
Medini (Matmad). It was given a twofold task: to research and eval-
uate what was taking place in the Middle East and the world; and to
advise the foreign minister and the government of Israel on foreign
policy. The CPPR was intended to serve as a central factor in the
work of the Foreign Ministry staff. Its workforce was tripled to 120,
and intelligence researchers were taken on, principally those with a
background in the military intelligence system.
This pursuit lasted three years; in 1977 the government of Men-
achem Begin took power, and Moshe Dayan became foreign minis-
ter (1977–1979). The head of the CPPR, reserve brigadier general
Yehoshua Raviv, resigned for personal reasons upon Dayan’s ap-
pointment. Dayan expunged the word “Planning” from the center’s
title, giving it its current name. He did not ascribe great value to the
center’s activity or evaluations. Moshe Sassonwas appointed head
of the CPR, and the number of its operatives plummeted in two
months to less than 80. The center’s researchers were not party to the
secret meetings held by the minister in the search for a political
breakthrough.
Dayan’s military background had trained him to work with MI and
the Mossad, and he had no need for the intelligence service in his own
ministry. To remove pressure from himself on the question of responsi-
bility for the nonoperation of the center, Dayan appointed reserve gen-
eral Aharon Yariv to chair a committee whose task it was to define the
roles of the CPR. Dayan also informed the committee that he did not ex-
pect the center to engage at all in planning. The committee submitted its
conclusions, asserting that the CPR had an important staff function60 • CENTER FOR POLITICAL RESEARCH/MAHLKA LE’MEHKAR MEDINI06-102 (02) A-G.qxd 3/24/06 7:23 AM Page 60