other-side-of-deception-victor-ostrovsky

THE OTHER SIDE OF DECFPTIO\ / 57ting the smoke out as he spoke. "Hofi, then head of the Mossad, wasagainst the ploy, saying that the Christian Phalange in Lebanon wasnot a reliable ally. Military intelligence agreed with him. But Hofi,who'd been in office for almost eight years then, was on his way out."Many people in the Mossad were hoping that this time theywould get an insider to run the show. As you well know, until thatpoint it had always been an outsider who was parachuted into office."I nodded. I knew this was the only way the outside world couldever have any control over the Mossad. A new chief from the outside-meaningthe military-was a way to clean house."Many were hoping that an ex-Mossad officer would be broughtin-someone like David Kimche, who was then director general of theforeign office and had been a department head in the Mossad beforehe had a clash with Hofi. Then there was Rafael Eitan, whom Beginadmired but thought was too close to Ariel Sharon. Begin was worriedthat Sharon would have too much power if his friend was head ofMossad."Begin decided that he would keep with tradition and have anoutsider take office." Ephraim paused. When he started to talk again,there was something different in his voice; he sounded angry, restless."At that point, when the war was about to start and Hofi alreadyhad one foot out of the Mossad, the right-wing element managed toplace many of their members in positions of power."In fact, all of us in the Mossad were getting tired of having ourfuture plans shattered and changed every time a new boss came. Andthe right-wingers especially were not going to give up what they'dgrabbed. It was a coup d'etat, the only difference being that there wasno itat to coup at the time."General Yekutiel Adam, or Kuti, as he was called by his friends,was appointed head of the Mossad and was supposed to take officesome time at the end of June 1982. The war in Lebanon started onJune 6, and by the second day of the war, Kuti had a run-in withSharon regarding the attack on the Syrian antiaircraft missiles in theBeka'a. Kuti believed and stated clearly that this might lead to all-outwar with the Syrians. He was undermining the effort the Mossad, incombination with Gemayel, had worked so hard and so long tomount. Certain elements realized what was coming if this man becamethe new chief. Someone decided that it was not to be.""Kuti was my best friend," the general spat out."He had friends in the Mossad," continued Ephraim, "people whowere preparing working papers analyzing the situation so that hecould take drastic action once he took office and not spend time wastingthe lives of young soldiers who were at the time being used as cannonfodder for the right-wingers' dream of a Mossad-run state inLebanon. Using the philosophy known as the 'balance of weakness,'they believed that they could be the power behind Gemayel's puppetregime, forgetting what every Lebanese child knew-that anyonecould swallow Lebanon but no one could digest it."It was clear that the power of the right-wingers was threatened;once Kuti took control, he'd pass an honest assessment of the situationto the government and to Sharon, who wouldn't want to be the firstIsraeli minister of defense to lose a war." Ephraim paused, sipping hiscoffee. "The opportunity came on June 10. The army had entered theoutskirts of Beirut, and there was a cease-fire in effect. Kuti, appointedto head the Mossad but not yet in office, requested a farewell visit tohis troops in Lebanon. It was the Mossad's job to organize it.""Why the Mossad? Why not the IDF?'" I asked."Because he was already the responsibility of the Mossad securityand out of the hands of the military.""If he had been our responsibility," the general interjected, "hewould still be alive today.""They planned the visit for the next day." Ephraim's voice waslow. "When Kuti arrived at the location, he was killed in an ambush.The attacker, a fourteen-year-old kid, was killed on the spot by theguards.""You're crazy." I got up. "That's crazy." I could not believe whathe was implying. It was too weird.He looked straight at me, his voice low and hoarse. "They found aphoto," he said, "a photo of Kuti on the kid. Who else would haveknown Kuti was there except the people who ~lanned his sudden littletrip? The Mossad-or rather, elements within the Mossad-killed him,there is no doubt in my mind.""So you wait four years and then tell me about it?""No, you're the latest step that we are taking. You have to realizethat working against the Mossad from the inside is not the easiestthing in the world to do.""So no one asked how come that photo was found in the killer'spocket?""That particular piece of information was kept from the investiga-1. IDF: Israeli Defense Force