Historical Dictionary of Israeli Intelligence

prestigious Rehavia Gymnasium. He served in the Information Ser-

vice(1945–1948) and in Military Intelligenceduring the 1948–1949

War of Independence, being demobilized in 1949 with the rank of first

lieutenant. From 1949 until 1950 Admoni served in the Israeli Secu-

rity Agency. Then he studied international relations at the University

of California at Berkeley (1950–1954). In 1954 Admoni was given the

task of teaching at the Mossad’s training center in Tel Aviv. He was

stationed in Addis Ababa during the years when Ethiopia had a key

role in the Mossad’s Periphery Doctrine, and during the mid-1960s,

the years of the Israeli-French strategic alliance, he was stationed in

Paris. After the 1967 Six-Day Warhe was stationed in Washington,

D.C., as the liaison with the Central Intelligence Agency. In 1976 Ad-

moni was appointed deputy to the Mossad’s director, Yitzhak Hofi.

On 12 September 1982, during Israel’s invasion of Lebanon in the

Peace for Galilee Operation, Admoni was unexpectedly appointed di-

rector of the Mossad when the person designated for this post, Major

General Yekutiel Adam, was killed early in the Israeli invasion. Ad-

moni was by then a 35-year veteran of the organization. He served as

director as of the Mossad until 1989 and was replaced by Shabtai

Shavit. While Admoni was serving as the director of the Mossad, his

name remained classified.

Admoni will be remembered as the one who recommended strik-

ing the Iraqi nuclear reactor in 1981. He believed that this might

serve as a useful warning to other countries in the Arab world to re-

frain from building a nuclear weapons capability. He will also be re-

membered for providing the warning that the Phalange in Lebanon

had decided to deal with the Palestinian camps at Sabra and Shatila

on the night of 16/17 September 1982.

According to Victor Ostrovsky, Admoni decided in 1983 not to

convey to the Americans in Beirut an early warning of the anticipated

Shi’ite terrorist bombing of the U.S. Marines headquarters in Beirut,

despite the alert that the Mossad received. According to Ostrovsky,

Admoni thought that the role of the Mossad in Lebanon was to serve

the interests of Israel and not to defend the Americans. Admoni de-

nied this charge. During Admoni’s period as director the Mossad was

connected to the Irangate Affair.

ADWAN, KAMAL.Chief of sabotage operations for Al-Fatah in the

Israeli-occupied territories. He was also a prominent member of the

4•ADWAN, KAMAL

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