work to the Egyptians. It was directed to probe into whether there was
sufficient evidence to indict Elad for this deed. As a result of the com-
mission’s conclusions, it was decided to indict Elad for lesser of-
fenses, for which there was solid evidence: possession of secret docu-
ments and contact with the enemy. See alsoCOHEN COMMISSION;
COMMITTEE OF SEVEN; ULSHAN-DORI COMMISSION.AMIT, MEIR (1926– ).Born in Tiberias, Israel, his family name before
its Hebraization was Slutzki. He was educated on the basis of social-
ist perspectives but acquired a liberal education as well and earned a
degree in economics at Columbia University in New York. He became
a member of the Kibbutz Alonim in lower Galilee. Amit joined the
Haganah and was a company commander in the 1948–1949 War of In-
dependence. After the war he commanded infantry and armor units.
As a commander he used the “Follow me” principle, believing that
any commanding officer should not remain in the rear but should lead
his troops into battle. This practice became the trademark of the Israel
Defense Forces (IDF).
Amit became a close friend of the chief of the General Staff, Lieu-
tenant General Moshe Dayan. At the beginning of 1962, Amit was
appointed director of Military Intelligence(MI), taking over after
three predecessors had been unfortunate in their directorship of this
intelligence organization: Isser Be’eriin 1949, Binyamin Gibliin
1954, and Yehoshafat Harkabiin 1959 were all forced out of office
as directors of MI because of scandals. During his incumbency, Amit
tried to reduce the traditional rivalry between the MI and the
Mossad. Amit and the director of the Mossad, Isser Harel, had dif-
ferent skills. Amit was an expert on military strategy, while Harel was
a virtuoso on operations.
In March 1963 Amit was asked by Israeli prime minister David
Ben-Gurion to become the director of the Mossad instead of Harel.
He assumed this office on 26 March 1963 while still a serving offi-
cer in the IDF; Amit was demobilized only in December that year. Se-
nior Mossad officers greatly admired Harel and were not happy with
his replacement by Amit. Shmuel Toledanoand other senior offi-
cers, including Yitzhak Shamir, organized a protest and proposed
collective resignation. Even today Amit and Shamir do not have a
good word to say about each other. So many senior Mossad officersAMIT, MEIR•906-102 (02) A-G.qxd 3/24/06 7:23 AM Page 9