 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Military Intelligence Directorate" Israel – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(September 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| Military Intelligence Directorate Israeli Military Intelligence אגף המודיעין | |
|---|---|
 Logo of the Israeli Military Intelligence | |
 Flag of the Israeli Defense Forces Military Intelligence | |
| Common name | Aman |
| Agency overview | |
| Employees | Classified |
| Jurisdictional structure | |
| National agency | Israel |
| Operations jurisdiction | Israel |
| Governing body | IDF General Staff |
TheIsraeli Military Intelligence (Hebrew:אגף המודיעין,romanized: Agaf ha-Modi'in,lit. 'the Intelligence Section'), often abbreviated toAman (Hebrew:אמ״ן), is the central, overarchingmilitary intelligence body of theIsrael Defense Forces (IDF). Aman was created in 1950, when the Intelligence Department was spun off from the IDF'sGeneral Staff. The Intelligence Department was composed largely of former members of theHaganah Intelligence Service. Aman is an independent service, and not part of theground forces,Navy or theAir Force.
It is one of the main entities and the largest component of theIsraeli Intelligence Community, along withMossad andShin Bet. It includes the cyber warfare branchUnit 8200, the human intelligenceUnit 504, the secret technologyUnit 81, and the training courseHavatzalot Program. Its special operations are conducted by the General Staff Reconnaissance Unit (Sayeret Matkal).
The IDF'sIntelligence Corps (חיל המודיעין), abbreviated as Haman (חמ״ן) and headed by abrigadier general, has been detached from Aman since theYom Kippur War, but remains under its jurisdiction.
In April 2000, theCombat Intelligence Collection Corps (חיל מודיעין השדה) was founded. Abbreviated as Modash (מוד״ש), it is the newest IDF corps, and the IDF's fifth land corps. It was designed to fulfill some of Aman's former combat intelligence functions, and is headed by a Brigadier General. Although it falls under the operational jurisdiction of theGOC Army Headquarters, it also falls under Aman's professional jurisdiction.
During the founding of the state of Israel, theHaganah military organization was primarily responsible for gathering intelligence, or one of its elite units, the Scherut Jediot (secret service), orShai.
Prime MinisterDavid Ben-Gurion commissioned the Shai in the late 1940s to create a secret service structure for Israel. Shai memberRe’uwen Schiloach established it based on four independent services: Aman and Schin Bet, the foreign intelligence service Machleket Hacheker, and the Institute for Illegal Immigration Mossad le-Alija Bet (defunct in March 1952).
In mid-1949 Shiloah created the Committee of Secret Service chiefs as a super-ordinate body. From 1963 the international secret service was officially called"Institute for Intelligence Service and Special Tasks" (ha-Mosad le-Modi'in u-le-Tafkidim Mejuhadim, orMossad).
An offshoot of the Department of Defense was the lesser-known Lakam technology intelligence agency, the existence of which was a state secret. It was used to obtain scientific and technological information. In the 1980s, Lakam lost much of its previous importance.
One of the biggest defeats of the Israeli secret services was caused by Aman in the 1950s. Defense MinisterPinhas Lavon had to resign amidst the outbreak of what became known as theLavon affair. Aman-led "Operation Susannah" was intended to attack western facilities in Egypt by Israeli agents and saboteurs. The aim was to disrupt the good ties between the United States and the Egyptian head of state,Gamal Abdel Nasser. Egypt’sState Security interrogated the perpetrators and were given sensitive information from the Israeli Military Intelligence.
The US was supposed to believe that the Egyptian state is powerless against religious organizations but Egypt managed to uncover the agents. Ten members were tried in January 1955, two of them sentenced to death. Lavon resigned a month later, followed byBinyamin Gibli, then Aman's director, two weeks later. Ultimately, the Head of State Ben-Gurion resigned in 1963, worn down by the ongoing controversy.
Aman consists of the following subordinate and professionally subordinate units:
The head of Aman is the senior intelligence officer in the IDF and engages in intelligence decision and policy-making at the same level as the heads of theShabak and theMossad: together, they form the three highest-ranking, co-equal heads of theIsraeli Intelligence Community, focusing on the military, domestic (including thePalestinian territories), and foreign intelligence fronts respectively.
In June 2005, then-IDF's Chief of Staff,Lieutenant GeneralDan Halutz, in a move viewed as surprising, announced that Major GeneralAharon Zeevi-Farkash would be replaced by Major GeneralAmos Yadlin. Yadlin, who had been serving as the IDF'smilitary attaché inWashington, D.C., was a combat pilot, former head of theair force'sAir Intelligence Directorate, and Halutz's deputy. Yadlin was appointed as Aman Director in January 2006, with Zeevi-Farkash having served an extended term. In November 2010, Yadlin was replaced by Major General Aviv Kochavi.
★ Later promoted toChief of the General Staff
Other military intelligence agencies
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
