Nahum Admoni ( he, נחום אדמוני; born November 21, 1929) is an

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

i former intelligence officer who served as the Director-General of the Mossad from 1982 to 1989. Admoni was born in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 ...

. His parents, Eliyahu and Sima Rothbaum, were middle-class

Polish Jewish The history of the Jews in Poland dates back at least 1,000 years. For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Ashkenazi Jewish community in the world. Poland was a principal center of Jewish culture, because of the lon ...

immigrants. Growing up, he studied at the Rehavia Gymnasium. In 1946, he enlisted in the Haganah and joined the Third Battalion of the Palmach. He fought in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War in the

SHAI Shai (also spelt Sai, occasionally Shay, and in Greek, Psais) was the deification of the concept of fate in Egyptian mythology. As a concept, with no particular reason for associating one gender over another, Shai was sometimes considered femal ...

, the Haganah intelligence branch, and later in the

military intelligence Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist commanders in their decisions. This aim is achieved by providing an assessment of data from a ...

of the newly created Israel Defense Forces. He was discharged from the army in 1950 with the rank of Lieutenant. He then went to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and studied international relations at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

, returning to

in 1954. There he rejoined the Israeli intelligence community, working his way up the

chain of command A command hierarchy is a group of people who carry out orders based on others' authority within the group. It can be viewed as part of a power structure, in which it is usually seen as the most vulnerable and also the most powerful part. Milit ...

to be Mossad Director

Yitzhak Hofi Yitzhak Hofi ( he, יצחק חופי‎; 25 January 1927 – 15 September 2014) was a member of the Palmach, IDF General, chief of the Northern Command (Israel), and director of the Mossad. Life Hofi was born in Tel Aviv. He joined the Haganah ...

's deputy. In 1982 the designated director of the Mossad

Yekutiel Adam Yekutiel "Kuti" Adam ( he, יקותיאל "קותי" אדם; November 3, 1927 – June 10, 1982) was an Israeli general and former Deputy Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces. Biography He was born in Tel Aviv to Yehuda and Elisheva Adam ...

was killed in 1982 Lebanon War and Admoni was chosen to replace him. Shortly after becoming the Mossad Director the

Sabra and Shatila massacre The Sabra and Shatila massacre (also known as the Sabra and Chatila massacre) was the killing of between 460 and 3,500 civilians, mostly Palestinians and Lebanese Shiites, by the militia of the Lebanese Forces, a Maronite Christian Lebanese ...

occurred. Admoni was criticized by the Kahan Commission for not warning the cabinet before allowing the Gemayel Phalangists into the camps, though no action against him was recommended. During his service as Mossad Director, Admoni watched over the

Jonathan Pollard Jonathan Jay Pollard (born August 7, 1954) is a former intelligence analyst for the United States government. In 1987, as part of a plea agreement, Pollard pleaded guilty to spying for and providing top-secret classified information to Israel. H ...

affair, in which it was revealed that Israel (though not the Mossad directly) was spying on the United States. He also endured the revelation of Israeli involvement in the

Iran–Contra Affair The Iran–Contra affair ( fa, ماجرای ایران-کنترا, es, Caso Irán–Contra), often referred to as the Iran–Contra scandal, the McFarlane affair (in Iran), or simply Iran–Contra, was a political scandal in the United States ...

and the public abduction of

Mordechai Vanunu Mordechai Vanunu ( he, מרדכי ואנונו; born 14 October 1952), also known as John Crossman, is an Israeli former nuclear technician and peace activist who, citing his opposition to weapons of mass destruction, revealed details of Israe ...

, who had revealed secrets of the Israeli nuclear weapons program to the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

press. Admoni retired in 1989. On August 28, 2006, he was appointed by prime minister Ehud Olmert to be chairman of an investigation committee, charged with investigating the actions of the government during the 2006 Lebanon War. He is married to Nina Admoni (née Wertans), who was born in Poland, and was among the Jews who fled to China during

World War II 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 opposing ...

. She later moved to the United States, and met Nahum while he was studying in

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California * George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer ...

. The couple married (they have two daughters Yael Lynne and Irit ) and moved to Israel when he returned there. He has served on the board of directors of several companies, including Mossad's pensioners association.

Notes

References

* Black, Ian. Morris, Benny. ''Israel's Secret Wars: A History of Israel's Intelligence Services''. New York: Grove Press, 1991. , 427 p. Directors of the Mossad Haganah members Jews in Mandatory Palestine Israeli people of Polish-Jewish descent Living people 1929 births {{Cite web, url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nachum_Admoni.jpg, title=עברית: נחום אדמוני, date=29 December 2015