Nahum Admoni

Admoni was born in Jerusalem in 1929 to Elimelech and Sima Admoni. In 1946, he joined the Haganah and was assigned to Shai, its information service; he also attended a Palmach preparation camp while continuing his Shai service. He served in Israel’s military intelligence corps after the establishment of the state and was discharged in 1950.[1]

Admoni then studied international relations at the University of California, Berkeley. While there, he met Nina Wertan; they married on August 3, 1952, at Temple Beth El in Berkeley, and settled in Jerusalem in 1954.[6]

Admoni joined the Mossad in 1954 and held senior command posts at its headquarters and abroad. He became deputy and then second-in-command to director Yitzhak Hofi. Before becoming director, he had headed Tevel under Zvi Zamir; the division handled relations with foreign intelligence services and countries that lacked diplomatic ties with Israel.[1][7] He served in the Mossad for 35 years, including six and a half years as its head.[2]

Prime Minister Menachem Begin appointed Admoni director in 1982 on Hofi’s recommendation. He was the first director to have risen through the Mossad’s own ranks and served under Begin, Yitzhak Shamir, and Shimon Peres.[1] His directorship ran from 1982 to 1989.[1][7]

Admoni took office after Operation Peace of the Galilee, also called the First Lebanon War, had begun, while extensive areas of Lebanon were under Israeli army control. During his tenure, the Mossad used its sources and ties in Lebanon to gather information about the combat arena.[1]

His work also encompassed intelligence efforts concerning Iraq’s nuclear program. Admoni later recalled that in 1981, while Hofi’s deputy, he was assigned to coordinate the agency’s activity regarding Iraq’s nuclear reactor. He described a disagreement with Hofi: Hofi feared an attack could damage the peace treaty, while Admoni said the position he represented was that there was no alternative to striking the reactor. Admoni said Begin ultimately decided to proceed.[7]

The main part of Operation Moses, which brought Ethiopian Jews to Israel, took place during Admoni’s directorship. At a cabinet meeting on January 6, 1985, he presented a 17-minute film about the secret aliyah through Sudan and said 6,500 people had arrived through an operation conducted with Sudanese authorities’ agreement. He explained that the arrangement depended on secrecy and stopped after the secret was breached, while other arrivals used routes whose methods could not then be disclosed.[8]

In a later interview, Admoni recalled deciding to call on Ethiopian Jews to reach Sudan so they could be brought to Israel. He said he had not adequately assessed the dangers of the journey, describing robbery, rape, and killings, and estimated that hundreds died en route. He nevertheless said he would not have made a different decision because he believed it was the only way to get them out.[7]

The Mossad’s efforts against Iraqi non-conventional weapons continued during Admoni’s tenure; he had coordinated that effort while serving as deputy director. The agency also captured Mordechai Vanunu and brought him to trial in Israel.[1] Admoni later characterized the Vanunu operation as a matter of luck rather than a standout success. He recalled that an operative encountered Vanunu in London by chance and said the plan was for Vanunu to travel voluntarily to Italy, avoiding an operation in England that Admoni characterized as illegal.[7]

Admoni urged the renewal of intelligence relations with Jordan, which subsequently expanded and deepened in several areas. The Mossad also established covert ties during his directorship with additional countries that had no official relations with Israel.[1]

After leaving the Mossad in 1989, Admoni became general manager of Mekorot, Israel’s national water company. After retiring from that post, he served on the boards of several companies and established a financial consulting firm; he also served as president of the Mossad pensioners association.[1][2]

Admoni was named to an external committee reviewing the Mossad’s failed September 1997 operation against Khaled Mashal in Jordan. Chaired by Yosef Ciechanover, the committee also included Rafi Peled. The operation’s exposure and the capture of Mossad agents damaged Israel’s relations with Jordan and Canada; Israel released Hamas leader Ahmed Yassin and other Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the agents.[3]

In October 1997, shortly after being named to the committee, Admoni was replaced. The attorney general had warned that the state might have difficulty defending his membership in court because of his public statements supporting the operation.[9]

Admoni’s career spanned the pre-state Haganah, military intelligence, 35 years in the Mossad, and later leadership at Mekorot. His directorship was associated with Operation Moses, the capture of Mordechai Vanunu, renewed intelligence relations with Jordan, and covert ties with countries that lacked official relations with Israel.[1][2]

In August 2006, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert appointed Admoni to head a government committee examining the political management of the Lebanon war. The planned committee included Yedidya Ya’ari, Ruth Gavison, and Yehezkel Dror, with David Ivri later named as its fifth member.[10] Olmert had rejected demands for an independent state commission, saying it “would take too long and paralyze the military,” and chose a government inquiry instead.[11]

The proposal came amid public criticism of Israel’s handling of the war and calls for an independent state commission of inquiry. Critics questioned whether a government-appointed committee would be independent, and the attorney general disqualified two of the committee’s five members over conflicts of interest.[11][4] The Jerusalem Post reported that the attorney general approved Admoni’s appointment despite concerns involving Olmert’s previous appointments of Admoni’s wife, Nina, to public positions.[12]

Olmert later replaced Admoni as chair with retired judge Eliyahu Winograd amid continuing controversy about the appointment.[4][13] Admoni subsequently left the commission; he and Winograd nominated retired major general Haim Nadel as an additional member.[14]

In 2018, Admoni joined five other former Mossad chiefs in expressing concern about Israel’s future. He said the country’s internal divisions, including the divide between religious and secular Israelis, were stronger than in any previous period.[7]

Shmuel Even’s account of the Kahan Commission’s findings says the Sabra and Shatila events occurred only a few days after Admoni became Mossad chief. According to the account, the commission found that Admoni did not give the government an unequivocal warning about the danger of allowing the Phalangists to enter the camps or express reservations about their entry. It considered it his duty to convey his assessment of the risks, including in light of the Mossad’s relationship with the Phalangists and the assassination of Bashir Gemayel.[5]

Even contrasts the commission’s treatment of Admoni with its recommendation that Military Intelligence chief Yehoshua Saguy be removed, while Admoni remained in office. He suggests that Admoni’s recent appointment and the Mossad’s position in intelligence assessment may have contributed to the difference.[5]

Published sources give conflicting dates for Admoni’s directorship. The Jewish Virtual Library and Ynet give 1982–1989.[1][7] One Encyclopedia.com entry gives 1982–1990, while another lists 1983–1990.[15][16]