From exploding pagers to 'honey trapping,' how Israel runs its clandestine operations

Last month, Israel stunned sci-fi and espionage genre junkies by brilliantly executing different daring, blase covert operation, successful which it eliminated dozens of Hezbollah terrorists crossed Lebanon. To execute their mission, sometimes Israeli spy services instrumentality vantage of their targets’ reliance connected oregon fearfulness of technology. Sometimes, they exploit quality science and weaknesses. Here’s how.

Exploding pagers

The September cognition was said to beryllium conceptualized by Israeli quality astir 2020, erstwhile the present dormant Hezbollah main Hassan Nasrallah issued an bid to his fighters to regenerate mobile phones with pagers and walkie-talkies. His interest emanated from Israel’s palmy usage of geolocation capabilities embedded successful compartment phones for targeted assassinations of terrorists. Nasrallah repeated his informing arsenic precocious arsenic 8 months ago, erstwhile helium referred to compartment phones arsenic "lethal collaborators." 

"Disable it, hide it, fastener it successful a metallic box," helium said successful a code posted connected YouTube connected Feb. 13.

Shortly aft Nasrallah’s bid to augment information by going low-tech came about, Israeli quality launched a multi-year analyzable clandestine operation. A web of beforehand companies posing arsenic an planetary pager shaper was acceptable up, which serviced mean commercialized clients and Hezbollah. It included a beforehand institution successful Hungary, which manufactured pagers connected behalf of a Taiwanese company, and 2 further ammunition companies. 

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, attends David Barnea's oath-taking ceremonial arsenic the caller caput of Israeli nationalist quality work Mossad successful Tel Aviv, Israel, connected June 1, 2021. Yossi Cohen, left, the outgoing caput of Mossad, besides attended the ceremony. (Photo by GPO/Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Multi-layer information was intended to support the identities of the Israeli quality operatives who were producing the pagers specifically for Hezbollah. Unlike the modular accumulation process utilized for the regular clients, pagers intended for Hezbollah were produced separately and contained batteries laced with PETN explosive. The beforehand institution started shipping pagers to Lebanon successful the summertime of 2022. 

This past summer, thousands of pagers were successful the hands of Hezbollah operatives, who were expected to transportation them astatine each times to enactment successful connection with their commanders. Instructions were expected to beryllium fixed to the terrorists astir wherever they should deploy erstwhile combat operations begin.

This video drawback shows a walkie-talkie that exploded wrong a location successful Baalbek, Lebanon, connected Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo)

When the pagers started beeping crossed Lebanon astatine 3:30 p.m. connected Sept. 17, an alert that looked similar a connection from precocious bid appeared connected its screen. It was followed by an explosion, sidesplitting oregon maiming the proprietor of the pager and those nearby. As a effect of the Israeli operation, 2931 radical were wounded and 37 killed, according to Lebanese authorities. 

Sexpionage but Flirting Only

High-tech is not ever the go-to method for Israelis. Some missions necessitate much accepted methods. Honey trapping successful quality operations parlance is simply a signifier of sexpionage, the oldest benignant of spycraft. Using the creation of seduction, a "honey pot" – typically a precise charismatic lady, who successful world is an quality operative, establishes a mendacious romanticist narration with the target. Depending connected the ngo of the operation, the target, typically a male, is lured by the honeypot and kidnapped for the purposes of interrogation, prosecution oregon assassination. Sometimes, the people is blackmailed, based connected the incriminating photographs revealing his intersexual relations with the "honey pot," into providing concealed accusation to oregon different moving arsenic a treble cause for the overseas quality service.

Nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu appears astatine the Israeli Supreme Court May 13, 2002, successful Jerusalem. Former atomic technician Vanunu, who is serving an 18-year condemnation for treason, asked the tribunal to marque nationalist concealed documents from his proceedings and to conscionable with his British lawyers. Vanunu was sentenced to jailhouse successful 1988, 2 years aft helium gave The Sunday Times of London pictures of Israel's atomic reactor adjacent the Negev Desert municipality of Dimona. (Pool Photo/Getty Images)

An audacious clandestine cognition involving chromatic trapping was ran by Mossad, Israel’s quality service focused connected overseas threats, successful 1986. A atomic technician, Mordechai Vanunu, who worked connected Israel’s top-secret atomic weapons programme astatine Dimona works successful the Negev Desert, went rogue. Having smuggled classified photographs of the accumulation installation wherever plutonium was separated, helium traveled to London to disclose the programme to The Sunday Times. His extremity was to physique planetary unit connected Israel to unopen down its clandestine program. Israel’s atomic argumentation is intentional ambiguity. It, therefore, has not declared its atomic capableness and is officially not a atomic power.

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Mossad deployed a pistillate agent, Cheryl Bentov, to London to seduce Vanunu and exfiltrate him to Israel. Bentov, a U.S.-born charismatic blond, codification sanction "Cindy," posing arsenic an American tourer from Florida, met Vanunu during a sightseeing circuit astatine Leicester Square successful London. They had a java and arranged to spell to the cinema. Eventually, "Cindy" lured Vanunu to question to Rome for a romanticist weekend. (Running a covert cognition was safer for Mossad successful Italy alternatively than connected British soil.) Upon arrival, Vanunu was apprehended by Mossad operatives, drugged and smuggled connected a yacht to Israel wherever helium was enactment connected proceedings for treason. Having served 18 years successful jail, 11 years of it successful solitary confinement, Vanunu was released successful 2004 but is not allowed to question extracurricular of Israel.

Using pistillate agents for chromatic trapping operations is acceptable but not for intersexual purposes.  "We flirt, but the enactment is drawn astatine sex, said a elder pistillate operational commandant successful the Mossad named Yael successful her interrogation with The Times of Israel successful 2012. 

Explaining that women person definite "advantages" implicit men, she added, "A antheral who wants to summation entree to a forbidden country has little accidental of being allowed in… A smiling pistillate has a bigger accidental of success." However, Rabbi Ari Schvat ruled successful 2010 that illicit enactment for the involvement of nationalist information is kosher for Mossad pistillate agents, calling it a "spiritual blessing" but lone if "there is nary different solution, and lone aft asking explicit spiritual support from a starring halachic authority." 

Good Samaritans to the Rescue

Sometimes, adjacent aft years of hunting for a circumstantial target, operational occurrence tin beryllium elusive without random bully luck and an assistance from bully Samaritans. Such was the lawsuit of Mossad’s capturing of the Nazi monster Adolf Eichmann, memorialized successful the celebrated movie "Operation Finale." Eichmann was the main designer of Hitler’s barbaric task Final Solution to the Jewish question, successful which 6,000,000 Jews were murdered. Eichmann was successful complaint of the identification, enactment and proscription of Jews from crossed Europe to their last destination astatine extermination camps.

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Adolf Eichmann, successful a bullet-proof cabin, puts connected earphones to perceive the speechmaking of the enactment of accusation against him connected Dec. 17, 1961. (Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images)

In 1946, pursuing the extremity of World War II, Eichmann escaped from a situation campy wherever helium had been incarcerated by U.S. forces. He yet settled successful Buenos Aires, Argentina, nether a mendacious individuality and lived an mean beingness with a woman and 4 sons portion moving astatine a Mercedes-Benz factory. Destiny would person it that 1 of his sons began dating a teenage miss whose Jewish begetter was a Holocaust survivor. The miss yet became suspicious that her boyfriend, who had kept the household past sanction Eichmann, was so the lad of the notorious Nazi criminal.

After aggregate attempts, the daughter, Sylvia Hermann and her unsighted father, Lothar, succeeded astatine convincing Israeli quality that they had identified the close guy. In May 1960, Mossad deployed a squad of 11 agents to Argentina, where, aft tracking Eichmann’s movements for days, they kidnapped him, drugged him and smuggled him retired of Argentina connected a forged Israeli passport. As portion of the operation, the Mossad agents sedated Eichmann and disguised him arsenic an Israeli hose EL AL formation attendant who fell ill. In Israel, Eichmann was enactment connected proceedings and executed by hanging connected May 31, 1962. Without the extremity disconnected from the bully Samaritans, the Nazi monster whitethorn not person been captured and brought to justice.

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