Mossad officer promoted and opposition anger grows as investigation begins
Israel, International, 10/13/1997

A senior Mossad officer who had taken part in planning the assassination of Hamas political department head Khaled Mishal in Amman was promoted to the post of deputy-director of the Mossad. The officer, known only by the first letter of his name, H, was recommended to the position only a few weeks ago by current Mossad director Danny Yatom. He was to take office in just a few days. As the planner of the operation, H was given by his chief Yatom the responsibility of overseeing the assassination of Khaled Mishal.

Yatom had reportedly worked closely with H during the attack on Mishal and was involved in all stages before the plan was carried out. During the failed attempt, Yatom received immediate reports from H and passed them over to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shortly afterward. Quoted in the Hebrew press over the past few weeks, since the Mishal-gate struck the political system in Israel, retired Mossad officials have said that both Yatom and H should resign their posts because of their responsibility over the operation. A number of names have also been aired as replacements for Yatom once he is out of the Mossad. Those included Ami Ayalon, the current head of Israel's General Security Services, Shein Bet, and Major General Amiram Levine, currently officer in charge of the northern command in the Israeli army, whose control extends to the occupied strip of South Lebanon. Ayalon had been a candidate to head the Mossad prior to the assassination of ex-prime minister Yitzkah Rabin.

Meanwhile, the three-member committee reviewing the botched assassination in Jordan continued its sessions Monday in a Mossad building near Tel Aviv. On its first day Sunday, the committee heard testimonies for up to 12 hours, including a statement from Mossad chief Danny Yatom, whose head is now being targeted by many in Israel for his supreme responsibility for the foiled attempt on the life of Khaled Mishal, Hamas political department head in Amman.

The committee, led by Yossef Chekhanover and including Rafi Peled and Dan Tolkovsky, is expected to discuss a list of recommendations presented by general (reserve) Rafael Vardi, to former Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin on the way the Mossad operations need to be discussed and approved by the government. The Vardi report, some years ago, was drafted when Yatom, the current head of the Mossad, was Rabin's military secretary and he himself pushed for those recommendations to be adopted. The committee will have to decide if Yatom, who was in favor of those recommendations, had acted in accordingly once the decision to assassinate Mishal was taken. The Vardi report contained recommendations about operations such as the Mossad attack in Amman and gave a list of officials who should be included in the decision-making process before the Mossad goes ahead to carry out its mission.

In Amman, reports said the Jordanian government has prevented the entry of Israeli security personnel who accompany official Israeli delegations to the kingdom. Israeli sources said that during the past three months, meetings were held between the Jordanian and Israeli Agriculture and Environment Ministers regarding the coordination of mosquito spraying over the Jordan River. Last Sunday was the optimal date for the spraying against mosquito eggs, but the Jordanian government refused to allow the Israeli spraying team to have security guards and the project was canceled. In addition, the participation of an Israeli delegation in a regional development conference to be attended by scientists from Jordan, Germany and the Palestinian National Authority is now doubtful because of security problems. Israel insists that its delegates be accompanied by armed bodyguards while the Jordanian authorities insist on maintaining their exclusive right to be solely responsible for security arrangements in the kingdom.

On the parliamentary front, the Israeli opposition parties aimed their anger at the Israeli government and personally at Netanyahu who on Monday managed to unite the opposition again against his government with a decision he took to cancel his appearance before the Knesset. The Knesset, Israel's parliament, held a special deliberation session upon a request from the opposition to review Netanyahu's decision-making process in light of the failed assassination attempt in Amman.

The opposition parties are furious that Prime Minister Netanyahu canceled his appearance. Netanyahu had declared, through his spokesman, that he would be willing to allow cabinet ministers to speak for him and that he would only join the session should his "busy schedule allow him to do so." The Knesset had convened for a special recess session to discuss the Labor and Meretz party proposals to review the Prime Minister¹s performance in the Mishal affair. On the same subject but from a different point of view, both the Likud and Moledet parties called for a special session to discuss efforts to fight Hamas, the Islamic Resistance Movement, in light of the release of the movement's spiritual leader, Sheikh Ahmad Yassin.

Opposition Labor Chairman Ehud Barak said Netanyahu's abstention from the plenary session is an insult to both the Knesset and the prime minister himself. Barak said he will not speak, but did not say who would speak on his behalf. He again sharply criticized the Prime Minister¹s policy and stressed that while he has good intentions, his implementation invariably fails. Labor MK Dalia Itzik did not participate in the session after she had already called on her colleagues in the party to boycott the plenary session saying the Prime Minister is afraid of a real debate and knows only how to address the TV camera.

Left wing Meretz Party MK Haim Oron said the prime minister is a coward who is afraid of a public debate or to give a public accounting of his actions on the Knesset floor. The communist bloc said Netanyahu's absence is further evidence of the Knesset¹s diminishing power and relevance and the contempt with which the Prime Minister regards Israeli parliamentary system.

Former Labor Party chairman Shimon Peres went even further and questioned the use of having a parliament in Israel when the prime minister avoids talking to the opposition through the Knesset panel. "Why do we have a Knesset when the prime minister does not wish to show up and defend his own policies," said Peres.

Previous Stories:
  Jordan Kicks Mossad out and Yatom to take fall for Netanyahu   (10/10/1997)
  Hussein confirms: I sent a Hamas offer to Netanyahu   (10/9/1997)
  Will Netanyahu resign   (10/5/1997)

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