From its iconic opening line, “Good morning, Mr. Phelps,” to each high-stakes mission, the 1960s TV series Mission: Impossible portrayed American espionage drama at its finest. Each Impossible Mission Force assignment was meticulously planned using cutting-edge gadgets, strategy, and disguises. Each week I waited to see Mr. Phelps open the manila envelope, take out the recorded message tape, and listen to the mission’s description—always knowing he would choose to accept it. But my favorite part was watching the recording device self-destruct after its message played. The covert team always succeeded, ensuring that the world was a safer place.
The reality of special operations is far more somber than Mission: Impossible depicted. Nations rely on special ops for security and to protect their interests. Such is the case for Israel, the only nation God called into the world of espionage. In Numbers 13, God instructed Moses, “Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel” (v. 2). Before Joshua led the children of Israel into Canaan, he “sent out two men from Acacia Grove to spy secretly, saying, ‘Go, view the land, especially Jericho’” (Josh. 2:1). Generations later, God instructed Gideon and his servant Purah to spy on the Midianites (Judg. 7:9–15).
That rich, biblical heritage, coupled with Israel’s 20th-century challenges, helped David Ben-Gurion, the visionary leader of the reborn Jewish nation, understand the imperative of gathering and utilizing intelligence to navigate a treacherous landscape. In 1949, he established the Central Institute for Coordination, now titled the Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations. The organization is best known as Mossad (Hebrew for “institute”); and it defends Israel by collecting intelligence, countering threats, and conducting special operations.
Three agencies make up Israel’s intelligence network: (1) Mossad, its foreign intelligence; (2) Aman (meaning “trust” or “safety”), its military intelligence; and (3) Shin Bet, its internal security and counterintelligence.
Mossad drew its motto from Proverbs 24:6: “For by wise council [tachbulot, Hebrew] you will wage your own war, and in a multitude of counselors there is safety.” Tachbulot, translated elsewhere as “strategy” or “careful navigation,” holds profound significance. This ancient wisdom reminds us that effective action is rooted in deliberate consideration, careful planning, and cunning. Mossad has consistently demonstrated an extraordinary capacity for executing well-crafted operations, thereby bolstering Israel’s national security and instilling a sense of stability and reassurance among its citizens.
Many of Mossad’s missions are confidential, but the ones that are made public demonstrate the elite capabilities of Israeli espionage. Here are a few prominent examples:
The Capture of Adolf Eichmann (1960)
Former Nazi SS (Schutzstaffel) officer Adolf Eichmann, responsible for masterminding the “Final Solution” that led to the systematic murder of millions of Jewish people during World War II, evaded capture for years after the war. Using fake identities and covert routes, he escaped from U.S. custody and fled to Argentina, a country that had become a sanctuary for many ex-Nazis.
On May 11, 1960, Mossad agents descended on Garibaldi Street in San Fernando, Argentina. There, they ambushed Eichmann as he walked home from his bus ride and swiftly smuggled him out of the country on a flight to Israel. He was then put on trial, found guilty, and sentenced to death by hanging. This affair marked a significant moment in Israeli history. It unveiled the depth of the Nazis’ systematic torture and genocide of the Jewish people and refuted the notion that the Holocaust was a minor inclusion in the list of wartime casualties.
Our Man in Damascus (1962–1965)
Eli Cohen was an Egyptian-born Jew from a Syrian-Jewish family. Fluent in Arabic, Hebrew, English, French, and Spanish, he immigrated to Israel in 1957 against the backdrop of the Suez Crisis. Once rejected by Mossad, the agency later recruited him for espionage work in Syria, transforming him into Kamel Amin Thaabet, an affluent businessman living in Argentina. Using his reputational wealth and charm, he infiltrated the highest echelons of Syrian military and politics, enabling him to provide valuable intelligence on Syria’s fortifications on the Golan Heights.
Though Cohen was captured and executed in 1965, his intel helped Israel win the Six-Day War two years later. His story became a national treasure when author Eli Ben-Hanan penned his biography, Our Man in Damascus: Elie Cohn.
Operation Diamond (1966)
After more than three years of undercover work, Mossad convinced Captain Munir Redfa, a disillusioned Iraqi Air Force pilot, to defect to Israel and fly his Soviet-built MiG-21—the most advanced Soviet fighter plane at the time—into Hatzor Airbase.
The acquisition of that plane and the resulting insight into the aircraft that Israel gained proved providential. In an April 7, 1967, dogfight with the Syrians, the Israeli Air Force (IAF) shot down six Syrian MiG-21s without losing a single Israeli plane. Two months later, during the Six-Day War, the IAF established significant air superiority over the Syrian and Egyptian MiGs, an important contribution to their miraculous victory.
Operation Wrath of God (Post-1972)
During the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany, the Palestinian militant group Black September took hostage and ultimately murdered 11 members of the Israeli Olympic team. Over the course of nearly 20 years, Mossad tracked down and eliminated many of the terrorists responsible. Shortly before each terrorist was killed, his family received flowers with a condolence card that read, “A reminder we do not forget or forgive.”
Operation Entebbe (1976)
On June 27, 1976, four terrorists—two Palestinians and two Germans—hijacked an international civilian passenger flight and diverted it to Entebbe Airport in Uganda, holding the passengers captive. Using the intelligence Mossad supplied, including the layout of the airport and information shared by several rescued hostages, Israel arranged a counterintelligence mission. On July 4, they flew 2,500 miles to Entebbe and rescued 102 hostages, eliminating terrorists and Ugandan soldiers. Only one IDF soldier was lost: Lt. Col. Yonatan Netanyahu, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s brother.
Raid on Iran’s Nuclear Archive (2018)
In a daring raid on January 31, 2018, Mossad agents infiltrated a secret Tehran warehouse in the heart of Iran and smuggled truckloads of documents and computer files proving Iran’s development of nuclear weapons. Three months later, Prime Minister Netanyahu presented incontrovertible evidence of Iran’s nuclear machinations to the world. He declared, “The Iran deal, the nuclear deal, is based on lies.”
Netanyahu’s statement referred to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), a 2015 deal in which Iran agreed to limit its nuclear capabilities and abandon its pursuit of nuclear weapons in exchange for sanctions relief. The undercover raid exposed Iran as a continued nuclear threat; and Mossad’s findings convinced President Donald Trump to withdraw from the JCPOA, a major turning point in the United States’ dealings with the Islamic Republic that ultimately led to the 2026 Iran War.
Hezbollah Pager Explosion (2024)
Word quickly spread around the world about thousands of Hezbollah terrorists being injured when the pagers they carried in their pockets exploded on September 17, 2024. Mossad had meticulously planned the operation by setting up a shell company in Hungary. This mission took years to plan and involved sophisticated marketing using YouTube to help convince Hezbollah leadership of their quality and good prices.
It was a rousing success. Mossad largely met its objective of injuring only the terrorists holding the devices without harming civilians around them. The goal of the pager plot wasn’t to kill the terrorists but to wound them, causing Hezbollah to invest time and money in their medical care. As an anonymous Mossad agent explained, “Those people without hands and eyes are living proof, walking in Lebanon, of ‘don’t mess with [Israel].’”
The writers of Mission: Impossible ensured that every episode they wrote ended in success. Mossad operates not in the world of fiction but in reality, which makes their accomplishments all the more amazing. Through His covenant with Abraham, God has blessed His Chosen People with unique capabilities and divine protection. I believe the impressive accomplishments of Mossad, coupled with the fact that “He who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep” (Ps. 121:4), proves that fact.
