Israel Matzav

'Your Muslim husband is a Jew'; when the Mossad got into the conversion business

This is an amazing story.

Fearful that the country's 'Israeli Arabs' would join in a war against Israel, in 1952, the Mossad planted ten Jewish immigrants from Iraq in 'Israeli Arab' villages to warn in case such an event took place. There was one small problem: The Mossad quickly came to the conclusion that in order to maintain their cover, the men would have to marry Arab women.

"Your husband is not who you think he is. He is not Arab. Your husband is a Jew who was sent into your village on a mission by the defense establishment." This was the news a few Israeli Arab women received from the head of the Mossad mission in France in 1964. This was how they discovered that the fathers of their children were serving in a top secret Israeli unit sent to spy in their villages.

...

The training process took one year; the men learned the Palestinian dialect, studied the Koran and espionage techniques in an Intelligence Corps base near Ramla. With a new identity and a detailed cover story, they were sent into Palestinian villages and cities. They pretended to be refugees from the 1948 war returning home. Their real families in Israel were kept in the dark about their whereabouts and activities; they were forbidden from trying to discover where their loved ones served.

After integrating into Arab life, village elders expected them to find a match, as per tradition. Senior Shin Bet personnel thought that the men should get married for the operation to succeed, but agreed to leave the decision up to the agents. Most of them did marry young Arab women.

"Our guys just didn't have a choice," Moriah says. "It seemed suspicious that young vigorous men would stay alone, without a spouse. When we sent them on the mission we didn't order them to marry, but it was clear to both sides that there is such an expectation, and that it would do the job better."

It's a fascinating story.

Read the whole thing.

Labels: Israeli Arab, Mossad, undercover agents

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:38 AM