military efforts secured their release in return for the release of 41 Syr-
ian prisoners of war. But one—Uri Ilan, a soldier of the Golani
Brigade and member of Kibbutz Gan Shmuel—had already been re-
turned in a coffin.
While in prison, the group was kept isolated from each other and
subjected to the cruelest physical and psychological torment. Ilan
feared that under torture he would reveal secrets of the operation to
the Syrians and thus harm Israel’s security. He therefore committed
suicide in his cell on 13 January 1955. Later that day, his body was
returned to Israel.
When Ilan’s body was examined, a note was found attached to his
leg. It read: “They have already killed everyone. I await the sentence.
I know nothing about the rest. Bury me next to Gabi. They are going
to kill me. Avenge.” In his clothes, more notes were found that he had
written by perforating the paper—torn from the Hebrew book
Vengeance of the Fathersby Yitzhak Shemi—to form letters. The most
famous of the notes was inscribed: “I did not betray, I committed sui-
cide.” However, in his eulogy for Ilan at his funeral, the chief of the
General Staff, Moshe Dayan, chose not to read the final words, so that
the phrase seared into the public consciousness is “I did not betray.”INCODA.A wholly Israeli-owned beef-export company, Incoda was a
useful commercial front for Israeli intelligence. In fact, it served as
the Mossadstation in Africa. Yossi Harel, a former Military Intelli-
genceofficer managed the Incoda factory in Asmara, Eritrea. The
firm was used mainly for dispatching agents to Arab countries. See
also DUMMY COMPANIES.INFORMATION SECURITY.See MILITARY INTELLIGENCE.INFORMATION SERVICE/SHERUTH YEDIOTH (SHAI).Until
1939, no single body existed to coordinate Jewish intelligence ac-
tions. Rather, the Jewish Yishuv in Mandatory Palestine had four dif-
ferent organizations operating throughout the country:- The Political Department of the Jewish Agency, headed by Moshe
Sharett, developed connections with the British and the Arabs, yield-
ing important data.
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