Haaretz, 9 March 2010: Former top Mossad operative David Kimche, one of Israel’s top diplomats and a classic intelligence and spymaster, died Monday at the age of 82. Kimche, the youngest of nine siblings, was born in 1928 to a Zionist family in London. He immigrated to Israel at the age of 18 and shortly after joined the War of Independence as a combat fighter. . . .

. . . . Kimche joined the Mossad spy agency in the early 1950s, and was in essence one of the organization’s founding fathers, among those who designed its doctrine and modus operandi. He was involved in just about every aspect of the Mossad over the course of his service, eventually reaching the position of deputy head of Mossad.

While serving in the Tsomet department responsible for running agents, he recruited and operated agents which were sent to infiltrate Arab countries. While in the Mossad’s Tevel Unit – serving as liaison with foreign espionage agencies – Kimche was involved in enhancing cooperation with Mossad’s counterparts throughout the world.

He was sent by the unit to serve in Africa under a borrowed identity, – presenting himself as a journalist – during the 1960s, an era when the continent was extremely important to Israeli diplomacy. Kimche also was involved in operations of the Mossad’s Bitzur Unit, which is responsible for the security of Jews around the world, and for their immigration from Arab states. He was also one of the founders of the Mossad’s research department. . . . .

♦ CI CENTRE COURSE: 220–An Introduction to Israeli Intelligence and Counterintelligence Methodologies