- Renowned Israeli spymaster and former head of Mossad, Shabtai Shavit, passed away at the age of 84 while on vacation in Italy.
- Shavit, who held the position of Mossad director from 1989 to 1996, played a pivotal role in Israeli operations during a tumultuous period in the Middle East.
- Mossad’s current chief, David Barnea, described Shavit as “a pillar of the world of operations, intelligence, security, and strategy of the state of Israel.”
Shabtai Shavit, the celebrated Israeli spymaster who was instrumental in securing Israel’s momentous peace treaty with Jordan during his tenure as the director of Mossad intelligence agency, passed away in Italy on Tuesday at the age of 84.
According to the statement released by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, Shavit passed away while vacationing in Italy, with no specific cause of death mentioned. Mossad chief David Barnea praised Shavit’s immense contributions to the fields of operations, intelligence, security, and strategy in Israel.
Leading the Mossad from 1989 to 1996, Shavit guided the agency through a pivotal period in the history of the Middle East. He oversaw Israeli operations on foreign soil amid the collapse of the Soviet Union, the end of the Cold War, and the first Gulf War in 1991. During his more than three-decade-long service, he spent approximately two years in Iran in an intelligence capacity before the Islamic Revolution transformed Iran into Israel’s strongest adversary.
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Under Shavit’s leadership, Israel achieved a groundbreaking interim peace agreement with the Palestinians in 1993. He also played a significant role in establishing full diplomatic relations with Jordan in 1994, effectively ending a state of war that persisted between the two neighboring countries for nearly five decades.
The late Shabtai Shavit, a former director of Mossad, appears at a press conference in Tel Aviv, Israel, March 11, 2015.
(THOMAS COEX/AFP via Getty Images)
The Mossad has a history of targeting and eliminating scientists involved in the development of weapons perceived as threats to Israel, a trend that seemingly continued under Shavit’s leadership. In 1990, two Mossad agents in Brussels were widely suspected of assassinating Gerald Bull, a Canadian missile engineer who had pledged to construct a “supergun” for Iraq capable of launching massive shells towards Tel Aviv. More recently, the Mossad’s involvement has been traced in attacks on Iranian nuclear scientists and installations as Israel endeavors to disrupt Iran’s nuclear program.
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During Shavit’s tenure, the Mossad is believed to have carried out various other operations on foreign soil. These include the enigmatic killing of Atef Bseiso, a senior intelligence aide to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, in Paris in 1992, and the assassination of Fathi Shiqaqi, the leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group, in Malta in 1995.
Following his retirement as the Mossad chief, Shavit served as the CEO of Maccabi Healthcare Services, one of Israel’s main healthcare organizations. In the condolence statement, the Mossad acknowledged Shavit’s significant contributions in preserving the agency’s knowledge and the legacy of its leaders for future generations.
Amid the turmoil surrounding Netanyahu’s government’s plans to reform the judiciary earlier this year, Shavit, along with four other former Mossad chiefs and numerous former employees, signed a statement in March opposing the government’s proposal to weaken the Supreme Court. They held Netanyahu directly accountable for the potential threat posed to Israel’s national security by the proposed overhaul.
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By transforming the landscape of Israeli intelligence and strategic operations, Shabtai Shavit leaves behind an indelible legacy that will shape the country for generations to come.
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