The Mossad’s audacious reputation was forged through a series of high‑risk, high‑precision operations.
By Hezy Laing
Few intelligence organizations command as much mystique as the Mossad, Israel’s foreign intelligence service.
Founded in December 1949 and formally placed under the authority of the Prime Minister’s Office in 1951, the Mossad has grown into one of the world’s most capable covert agencies, with an estimated workforce of 7,000 personnel and an annual budget believed to exceed 10 billion shekels.
Although Israel never publishes official figures, the Mossad is widely considered comparable in size to Britain’s MI6 and significantly smaller than the CIA, which employs more than 20,000 people.
Yet its impact on global intelligence operations is disproportionately large.
Beyond its operational achievements, the Mossad is structured into several specialized departments that divide its global responsibilities.
Tzomet, the human‑intelligence division, is responsible for recruiting and running agents abroad and is often regarded as the backbone of the organization’s field capabilities.
Caesarea, one of the Mossad’s most secretive units, handles covert action and special operations, including sabotage, extractions, and high‑risk missions deep inside hostile territory.
LAP, the psychological warfare and influence division, conducts perception‑shaping campaigns, while Tevel manages liaison relationships with foreign intelligence services, a vital function for a country that relies heavily on international cooperation.
The Research Department produces strategic assessments for Israel’s leadership, and the Technology Division develops advanced surveillance, cyber, and operational tools that support field operatives.
Together, these branches form a tightly integrated network that allows the Mossad to operate with unusual speed, autonomy, and precision across multiple continents.
Internationally, the Mossad is often ranked among the most effective intelligence services in the world, admired by Western agencies for its creativity, agility, and ability to operate in denied environments.
Many European and Middle Eastern services view it as a uniquely capable partner in counterterrorism and counterproliferation, even when political relations with Israel are strained.
At the same time, adversarial governments regard the Mossad with a mixture of caution and respect, acknowledging its ability to penetrate hardened targets and execute complex operations far from Israel’s borders.
The Mossad’s reputation was forged through a series of high‑risk, high‑precision operations.
These include the capture of Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann in Argentina in 1960, the sabotage of Iran’s nuclear program through cyber operations such as Stuxnet in 2010, and the 2018 extraction of 55,000 pages of Iranian nuclear archives from a warehouse in Tehran — an operation that stunned Western intelligence agencies for its audacity and technical complexity.
The organization has also been linked to a coordinated action involving remotely triggered beepers used to disrupt hostile militant communications infrastructure, reflecting its continued emphasis on technological ingenuity.
The Mossad is further credited with a long campaign of targeted operations against Iranian nuclear scientists, as well as deep penetration of Hezbollah and Hamas leadership networks.
Compared to the CIA, which excels in global surveillance, satellite intelligence, and large‑scale covert action, the Mossad’s strength lies in human intelligence, clandestine infiltration, and surgical operations carried out by small teams.
Unlike Russia’s FSB or China’s MSS, which rely heavily on domestic surveillance and cyber espionage, the Mossad operates almost entirely abroad and maintains a decentralized structure that allows rapid decision‑making and operational flexibility.
Its networks of local assets, diaspora contacts, and undercover operatives give it reach far beyond Israel’s borders.
The Mossad’s weaknesses stem largely from its size.
It lacks the vast technological infrastructure of the NSA or the global military footprint that supports CIA operations.
Its reliance on human intelligence, while often an advantage, also exposes it to counterintelligence risks, as seen in several failed operations in the 1990s and early 2000s.
Yet despite these limitations, the Mossad remains one of the most effective intelligence services in the world, defined by precision, creativity, and a willingness to take risks that larger agencies often avoid.
