"Israeli Military Intelligence" – with IDF Brig. General (Res.) Yossi Kuperwasser

Summary

Yossi Kuperwasser (Twitter; Website) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss the Israeli intelligence community. Yossi is the former head of the Research Division of IDF Military Intelligence.

What You’ll Learn

Intelligence

• The layout of Israeli intelligence
• The First and Second Intifadas
• Israel’s complicated position in the Middle East
• Relationship between Israeli and American ICs

Reflections

• Intelligence as a learning process
• The importance and difficulty of trust 

And much, much more …

Episode Notes

Yossi Kuperwasser has had quite the illustrious career within Israeli intelligence. He’s the former head of the Research Division at the Israeli Defense Forces’ Intelligence Corps, former Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and former Intelligence Attaché to the United States, among many other positions. 

This week on SpyCast, Yossi joins Andrew in conversation about the Israeli intelligence community, including Aman, Mossad, and Shabak. What tactics does Israel utilize against their adversaries, and what does the future of Israeli intelligence look like? You’ll find out in this week’s episode. 

And… 

Israel has more museums per capita than any other country in the world!

Quote of the Week

“That's the problem of intelligence - It's an ongoing learning process. And if you don't learn all the time to enable you to adjust to the developing situation, you are going to fail.”

Resources 

SURFACE SKIM

*SpyCasts*

• The Counterterrorism and Counter WMD Strategist with Dexter Ingram (2022)
• Son of Hamas, Spy for Israel with Mosab Hassan Yousef and Gonen Ben Yitzhak (2010)
• Israeli Intelligence and the Jonathan Pollard Spy Case with Ron Olive (2007)

*Beginner Resources*

• History of Israel, Encyclopedia Britannica [encyclopedia entry]
• What you need to know about the 1987 Intifada, PBS (2019) [article]
• The Oslo Accords, 25 Years Later, Washington Post (2018) [video]
• 1967 War: Six Days that Changed the Middle East, J. Bowen, BBC (2017) [article]
• The Israel-Palestine Conflict: Brief, Simple History, Vox (2016) [video]

DEEPER DIVE

Books

• Spies Against Armageddon: Inside Israel's Secret Wars, D. Raviv & Y. Melman (Levant Books, 2014) 
• Mossad: The Greatest Missions of the Israeli Secret Service, M. Bar-Zohar &N. Mishal (Ecco, 2014)
• Righteous Victims: A History of the Zionist-Arab Conflict, B. Morris (Vintage, 2001)

Articles

• Everything you Need to Know about Israel-Palestine, Vox (n.d.) [article] 
• Mossad head reveals how Syria found Eli Cohen, discloses spy’s final message, T. Siegal, The Times of Israel (2022) 
• Israeli Intelligence and the Coronavirus Crisis, S. Shapiro, International Journal of Intelligence and Counter Intelligence (2020)
• A Critique of Obama's Understanding of Israel, J. Goldberg, The Atlantic (2015)

Video

• The Mossad: Imperfect Spies (2015) [Documentary]
• America, the Arab World, and the Arab-Israeli Conflict, The Wilson Center (2007)

Primary Sources 

• Interview with David Ivry, Major General of the IDF, Wilson Center (2020)
• Remarks Following Discussions With Prime Minister Shimon Peres of Israel, Reagan Library (1985)
• Foreign Intelligence and Security Services: Israel, CIA (1979)
• Memorandum for the President, "Next Steps in the Middle East,” Rogers to Nixon, Wilson Center (1970)
• On Soviet Policy following the Israeli Aggression in the Middle East, L. Brezhnev, Wilson Center (1967)

*Wildcard Resource(s)*

• The Little Drummer Girl – A fictional novel about a double agent working for the Israelis, written by famed spy author John le Carré in 1983.