Nadene Goldfoot
Tamir Pardo (Hebrew: תמיר פרדו; born 1953) age 73, is the former Director of Mossad, taking over the role from Meir Dagan on January 1, 2011. The appointment was announced by Israeli prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on November 29, 2010. He served in the role from 2011 until 2016. This head of Mossad is stirring up lots of disagreement at a time Tel Aviv is in danger of being wiped off the map.
Pardo was born in Tel Aviv to a Sephardi-Jewish family. His father was an immigrant from Turkey, and his mother was of Serbian-Jewish origin. At age 18, when he began his compulsory service in the Israel Defense Forces, he volunteered for the paratroopers. He graduated from an officers' course, and later served as a communication officer in the elite special forces unit Sayeret Matkals, same as Netanyahu. He also served in the Shaldag Unit.
Yonatan "Yoni" Netanyahu (Hebrew: יוֹנָתָן "יוֹנִי" נְתַנְיָהוּ,; March 13, 1946 – July 4, 1976) was an Israeli military officer who commanded Sayeret Matkal during the Entebbe raid. He was only 30 years old when he was killed in Uganda, Africa.
He was a member of the unit under the command of Yonatan "Yoni" Netanyahu and participated in Operation Entebbe. Yoni's elder brother to current Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, was killed during the operation. He was the only one who died then.
After completing his military service, Pardo joined the Mossad in 1980, and served in entry-level technical positions. He took part in several classified operations, and was awarded the Israel Security Prize three times. He rose through the ranks and eventually became head of the "Keshet" department, responsible for operations, including obtaining electronic intelligence through wiretaps and photographic methods. In 2005, he was in line for promotion to the organization's number 2 position, when another individual was given the job.
Mossad Director-General Meir Dagan thereupon lent Pardo to the IDF, where he served as a senior advisor for operations to the Israeli General Staff. He served in this position during the 2006 Lebanon War.
After Dagan fired his number 2, he invited Pardo to return to the Mossad and assume the role. Pardo did so in the belief that when Dagan retired, he would be offered the job. However, Dagan's term was extended and he did not retire when expected. This led Pardo to leave the Mossad, whereupon he went into private business with Israeli Internet gambling entrepreneur Noam Lanir, and to serve as chairman of Shizim Group.
Israeli media reported that Netanyahu's first candidate for the role of Mossad chief, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries's CEO, retired Major General Shlomo Yanai, was offered the job but turned it down. Of several other candidates, Pardo was the only one to have served in the Mossad.
It was anticipated that Pardo would continue the work of his predecessor, Meir Dagan, in attempting to thwart any attempts by the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to build a nuclear weapon.
On August 2, 2011, German news website Spiegel Online published an article named "Mossad Behind Tehran Assassinations, Says Source", claiming receiving information from "an Israeli intelligence source", linking Mossad under Tamir Pardo as its chief to the assassination of Iranian nuclear scientist Darioush Rezaeinejad in Tehran on July 23, 2011. The report was reprinted by several news agencies, yet without providing additional sources to confirm the information.
In June 2016, the American NGO United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) announced that Pardo had joined the group's Advisory Board. Upon joining, Pardo said, "The leading global powers cannot turn a blind eye to the clear and present dangers the Iranian regime poses to the safety and freedoms of millions of people within their borders and throughout the world."
In June 2018 Pardo stated that Mossad was 'a crime organization with a license,' something which, he added, made working for it the 'fun part'.
On 6 September 2023 in a statement to the Associated Press, Pardo claimed that Israel is an apartheid state: “There is an apartheid state here. In a territory where two people are judged under two legal systems, that is an apartheid state."He was referring to law for Palestinians and law for Israelis on same land under war times. Palestinians were attacking as HAMAS, and one could not tell who was who most of the time.
He also claimed that while Director of Mossad he saw the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as the most important threat to Israel, and "repeatedly warned Netanyahu that he needed to decide what Israel’s borders were, or risk the destruction of a state for the Jews."
Since he stepped down as Director of Mossad, he has been a vocal critic of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his 2023 judicial reforms ;that was made in lieu of the October 7, 2023 Palestinian attack.. He has called for Netanyahu to resign and stand trial on charges of engaging in a coup, and accused the Israeli government of overseeing an apartheid state. He has also accused Netanyahu of planning to directly attack Iran, and of spying on both himself and Benny Gantz, then chief of General Staff of the IDF.
Benny Gantz joined Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in an emergency unity government days after the October 7, 2023 attacks, but later resigned in June 2024 due to strategic disagreements and a lack of a post-war plan.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has avoided finalizing a comprehensive post-war framework primarily due to intense domestic political pressures, deep divisions within his own security establishment, and a strategic preference for open-ended military operations over compromising with international or Palestinian alternatives.
- The Ultimatum: In May 2024, Gantz gave Netanyahu a deadline to adopt a clear postwar strategy for Gaza, including hostage recovery plans and governance for the enclave.
- June 2024 Departure: Gantz announced his resignation from the emergency government, stating that political considerations were hindering vital strategic decisions.
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