SPECIAL REPORT part 3: The downfall of Netanyahu: Mossad's assasination fiasco in Jordan
Jordan-Israel, Politics, 10/3/1997

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will on Sunday have to answer many questions on how and why he authorized the Mossad operation in Jordan, which turned out to be a major fiasco, not only with regard to the tense relations between the kingdom and Israel but also to the diplomatic ties between the Israel and Canada. When the Israeli cabinet meets on Sunday, Netanyahu may be asked officially by his coalition partners to set up a commission of inquiry to investigate the ill-fated Mossad operation in Amman.

Senior security officers in Israel have called for a broad investigation into the aborted mission of the Mossad agents in Jordan who tried to assassinate, and some believe they wanted to kidnap, a Hamas official in Amman. Netanyahu is lucky, said an Israeli source, because of the extended Jewish New Year holidays that paralyzed political life in Israel as of Wednesday afternoon. Otherwise, the government would have already faced a major crisis right after the speedy clandestine release of Hamas spiritual leader, Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, and his deportation to Jordan.

Israel has officially refused to comment on the covert Mossad operation in Amman, but the angry telephone call King Hussein made to Netanyahu Tuesday night had made it clear to the Israeli premier that he has not that wide a range of options and that he had to act swiftly to appease the Jordanian monarch. Reports in Israel spoke also of a secret visit by Jordan's Crown Prince Hassan last Sunday who brought with him a video tape with an on-camera confession by the two "Canadian tourists" that they were Mossad agents.

In what seems to be the tip of a major diplomatic iceberg, Canada called back its ambassador to Israel, David Burger, in a show of protest at the Mossad's forging Canadian passports for use by its own agents involved in covert activities. Canadian sources said this was not the first time Canadian passports, whether real or forged, were used by the Mossad. In his book "By Way of Deception" Victor Ostrovsky, a former Mossad agent, wrote on how Canadian passports were the favorite of the Mossad. He further wrote about a visit to a factory the Mossad was using for forging currency and passports. "When I visited the factory as a trainee, I saw a large batch of blank Canadian passports. They must have been stolen. It looked like an entire shipment. There were over 1,000 of them. I don't think the shipment was ever reported missing--not in the media, anyway," he wrote.

The use of forged Canadian passports by the Mossad agents in Amman was not the first. Back in 1973, when Mossad agents killed Ahmad Boushiki, the Algerian waiter who had a Moroccan passport, in Lillehammer, Norway, mistaking him for Ali Hassan Salameh, then chief PLO security officer, one of the assailants, a woman, was said to be Canadian.

On Sunday, the Israeli cabinet will receive a full report from Mossad chief Danni Yatom on what went wrong with the aborted operation in Jordan. Yatom, a former major general in the army, is practically responsible for all operations of the Mossad and he reports directly to the prime minister, who bears the full ministerial responsibility for actions taken by the organization, which enjoys a high reputation among world intelligence communities.

It is not clear yet if a state-run commission of inquiry will be set to investigate the complicated repercussions of the failed operation and to examine what went wrong in the planning stages, but the opposition in Israel is getting ready for what is expected to be the major battle with Netanyahu's government, and this time on state security and strategic interests. Security officers in Israel over the past few days had openly come out against the operation in Amman, saying it led to a major crisis with the only Arab leader whom the Israeli public like and highly respect.

Israel's state-run television quoted senior security sources as calling for the formation of a commission of inquiry to check if all risks connected to the operation in Amman were examined before the two Mossad agents were dispatched to Jordan to kidnap or assassinate Khaled Mishal, head of Hamas' political department.

Less than two weeks ago, Netanyahu faced a major problem with Israel's internal security, General Security Services, better known as Shin Bet, when he published in Vienna, Austria, information relevant to Shin Bet investigation into the last two suicide bombings in West Jerusalem. Senior Shin Bet officers were surprised at the publication of information they had even obtained a court order to prevent any leakage of details of the investigation. With the new fiasco in Amman, Netanyahu has apparently put himself again in an embarrassing condition with the other main security apparatus in Israel, the Mossad, which handles espionage and counter-intelligence matters out of Israel.

Sources have informed ArabicNews.com that the sudden trip to USA by Crown Prince to see president Clinton early this week (see our report on 9/30/97 about "sudden visit to US") was related to this Mossad attack and was to brief the US president on the results.

Within a very brief period Netanyahu has managed to offend his elite forces, his Army generals, and Intelligence establishment. Sources within the Israeli government have told ArabicNews.com that what we are about to witness is the "downfall of Netanyahu".

Previous Stories:
  PNA will continue manhunt of Hamas   (10/2/1997)
  SPECIAL REPORT part 2: The release of Hamas's spiritual leader, Sheikh Yassin   (10/1/1997)
  SPECIAL REPORT part 1: The release of Sheikh Yassin   (10/1/1997)

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