The Israeli intelligence services and the IDF have suffered some set backs of late that many critics have suggested indicates Israeli clandestine operations are in a free fall.
“What happened to the days where (future Prime Minister and Defense Minister Ehud) Barack snuck into PLO headquarters in drag to assassinate some of the world’s most notorious terrorists?” Israelis asked themselves after several incidents that some perceived as indicative of a changing culture in Israel where the feared Israelis of the past are now dismissed as amateurs.
As an example of a perceived failed mission (although I actually contend that the mission was a success), critics point to the assassination in Dubai where alleged Israeli hitmen were caught on camera and their identities were traced back to passports of Israeli citizens. Israel was, according to critics, caught red handed, an event that would most certain not have happened in the past.
Well. Another mishap for Israel is considered that Iran is well on its way to making nuclear weapons. Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has long pushed a military posture towards Iran, yet no military action was taken and sanctions have been minimally enforced.
Another blunder was the Israeli government’s handling of the Gaza-bound flotilla, when Israelis were injured after boarding terrorist ships in international waters. While many Israelis contend the military should most certainly have intervened, the execution of that intervention has been called into question for resulting in too many casualties (for example, Israel could have prepared food and water for the passengers and destroyed their propulsion system instead of boarding).
On the face of it, these mishaps, to name a few, suggest the IDF and Israeli intelligence is far from the elite level it possessed in the past.
But, not so fast. Just this week we learned that the Iranian nuclear program has been severely hampered by a cyber attack, which is supposedly from the United States with the aid of Israeli scientists. That attack crippled 30,000 of Iran’s most tightly guarded computers, yet malicious software still penetrated defenses. This incident is not the only cyber-style attack on Iran, either. The Iranian nuclear program has been set-back by mysterious power outages and other sabotage that has not been traced back and claimed by Israel.
It seems that the IDF, Mossad and clandestine services may still be conducting elite and highly sophisticated operations — but, just like the rest of the world, Israel has entered the 21st century. And, this transition to cyber warfare should be no surprise.
Just 100 years ago, the area we now call Israel was desert and swamp land and virtually un-irrigable. Not today. Israel has quickly developed into the “land of milk and honey,” where even the dry Negev desert has booming agriculture. And that’s not to mention the technological advances that have occurred, making Israel on of the high-tech leaders.
According to Israeli propaganda, the number of per capita engineers in Israel is the highest in the world. The Prime Minister’s Office says:
One factor in the exceptional growth rate in this industry in recent years is Israels percentage of engineers, the worlds highest, with 135 engineers per 10,000 persons, as compared to 85 per 10,000 persons in the United States. Another factor has been the many thousands of skilled engineers and technicians who have immigrated from the former Soviet Union since 1989.
Former President Bill Clinton should take note of that last statistic as well. Engineers and scientists from the former Soviet Union have flooded Israel and helped it boom. These immigrants have contributed, and some of these contributions have undoubtedly focused on technology that has aided Israeli clandestine services.
The bottom line is that Israeli clandestine services should in no way be underestimated. Any perceived notion that the Mossad, Shabbak and others are declining in ability are far off base and, if those individuals are Israel’s enemies, their eyes will be sharply opened when they are on the receiving end of new tactics and capabilities.
