SpyCast 3.21.23
Ep 579 | 3.21.23

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

Show Notes

Summary

Yossi Kuperwasser (Twitter; Website) joins Andrew (TwitterLinkedIn) 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*

*Beginner Resources*

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

Video

Primary Sources 

*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.