Meir Max Bineth (Max Bennett) (27 June 1917 – 21 December 1954) was a

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

in the Israeli Intelligence.

Biography

Bineth was born in

Szombathely Szombathely (; german: Steinamanger, ; see also other alternative names) is the 10th largest city in Hungary. It is the administrative centre of Vas county in the west of the country, located near the border with Austria. Szombathely lies by t ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

, the grandson of the scholar

Jacob Obermeyer Jacob Obermeyer (21 March 1845 in Steinhart – 1 March 1938 in Würzburg) was a Bavarian Jewish oriental researcher, scholar and a traveler, and the grandfather of the Israeli agent Meir Max Bineth. Biography Early years Jacob Obermeyer wa ...

. He grew up in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

, from 1919 until 1935, when he and his parents left

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

and emigrated to

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

. Meir's last duty and mission was as an Israeli intelligence spy (Secret Fighter) in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

, from 1952 to the end of 1954. He was sent there undercover as a German businessman, representing various German firms – primarily "von Laufenberg", a firm manufacturing equipment for the disabled and crippled. He was the first Israeli intelligence agent sent to an enemy country under a German identity and was likely partly selected due to his early years in Germany. Meir's mission in Egypt was to gather information for Israeli Intelligence about the strength of the Egyptian army, the power of the military industry, Egyptian strategy and intentions toward Israel, the activities of significant anti-Israeli bodies, propaganda, etc. Many doors of Egypt's top military echelon opened before him; he became acquainted with General

Muhammad Naguib Mohamed Bey Naguib Youssef Qutb El-Qashlan ( ar, الرئيس اللواء محمد بك نجيب يوسف قطب القشلان, ; 19 February 1901 – 28 August 1984), also known as Mohamed Naguib, was an Egyptian revolutionary, and, along w ...

, then President of Egypt. He also built relations with German military and intelligence personnel and ranking ex-Nazi "advisors" who had found refuge in Egypt after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Some of them were scientists who were helping Egypt develop missiles that could potentially threaten Israel. While working in Egypt, Meir was nominated as a consultant engineer at the "Anglo Egyptian Motors Company" (the German branch of the

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...

in Egypt), and suggested several projects to help improve Egypt's economy, believing that a crucial reason that generates wars between nations and communities is the lack of economic and social equilibrium; among other things he wrote in his prison cell for his defense was the line "I think that the principal cause of wars is the age-old fear existing between man and communities that there may not be enough bread for all." Meir's cover and conduct were convenient—he had German citizenship, grew up with German culture, literature, and music, and German was his mother tongue. During the last seven months of his secret mission in Egypt, his wife Jane (South African in origin) and daughter joined him. Bineth was caught and arrested after the failure of

false flag A false flag operation is an act committed with the intent of disguising the actual source of responsibility and pinning blame on another party. The term "false flag" originated in the 16th century as an expression meaning an intentional misr ...

Operation Susannah, an incident later known as the Lavon Affair. Meir had been ordered by a senior officer in Israel to deliver money for the groups' needs and had met Marcelle Ninio a few times. Ninio was the last to be caught; under torture, she gave a description of Meir's car, which led to his capture. After five months of interrogation and torture, on the day before his trial, Meir committed suicide in his prison cell (his wife and child were in Europe). He realized that there was no way out for him and wanted to avoid public hanging, which was the fate awaiting him after conviction. His body was re-interred in the

Mount Herzl Mount Herzl ( he, הַר הֶרְצְל ''Har Hertsl''), also ''Har ha-Zikaron'' ( lit. "Mount of Remembrance"), is the site of Israel's national cemetery and other memorial and educational facilities, found on the west side of Jerusalem beside ...

military cemetery in Jerusalem in 1959.

References

* The Lavon Affair
The Lavon Affair, The Ring Acts and is Caught, Max (Meir) Binett (or Benett)
* The Israeli and Anglo-American Jewish Discourse, Binnet was a major in the Israel Defense Forces who was already known and wanted in Iraq for previous espionage activity there. His mission in Egypt appears to have been far more substantial than Operation Susannah, with which he had no direct connection. *

External links

* * * * * *Amnon Yona: Missions with No Traces=https://books.google.com/books?id=7viWqKOsdZcC&pg=PA259&lpg=PA259&dq (pages=256–260) {{DEFAULTSORT:Bineth, Meir Max 1917 births 1954 deaths 1954 suicides Hungarian emigrants to Germany German emigrants to Mandatory Palestine People from Szombathely Aliyah Bet People of the Mossad Egypt–Israel relations 1950s in Egypt Israeli spies Jewish Egyptian history Israeli torture victims Spies who died in prison custody Israeli people who died in prison custody Israeli military personnel who committed suicide People who committed suicide in prison custody Suicides in Egypt Burials at Mount Herzl

Biography

See also

References

External links