After six-and-a-half years in office, Israel’s No. 1 secret agent left his office Sunday — out in the open.
Nahum Admoni quit his job as head of the Mossad, Israel’s prestigious foreign intelligence service. He was replaced by yet another classified official, who will remain publicly nameless until he finishes his term in office.
The change of guard took place Sunday at the Prime Minister’s Office. The only piece of information on the new head of the Mossad was the fact that he came from within the ranks of the agency. Prior to the change, there were reports that candidates from outside the organization were under consideration.
Admoni’s resignation ends 35 years of service with the intelligence agency, for which he was thanked by Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir. The head of Mossad reports directly to the prime minister. Admoni also served under Prime Ministers Menachem Begin and Shimon Peres.
He ended his service on a sour note. A lengthy report in a Tel Aviv local weekly described him as a colorless figure who was responsible for a great deal of Mossad’s failures in Europe.
As long as he was in service he was unable to react. Judging from past experience, he is unlikely to do so even now that he is a regular citizen.
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