‘They told us a big attack wouldn’t happen’: the intelligence failures before 7 October

A year on, there are still bitter recriminations over warnings missed by Israeli military and intelligence services

In the late afternoon on 7 October, an Israeli software engineer in his mid-30s found himself driving down a deserted road parallel to the perimeter fence that separated Gaza from Israel. He had been fighting for hours with an AK-47 taken from a dead Hamas militant. Now he and three friends were headed to the town of Ohad to search for relatives who had gone missing.

“Only when we set off south did we understand how big this was. It was like an apocalypse,” the engineer, who did not want to be named, said last week. “There were hundreds of bodies of civilians inside their cars or on the road, hundreds of dead terrorists with their pickup trucks or motorbikes. There were dead police, army vehicles on fire. We were alone.”

Continue reading...

Israeli security chief condemns ‘terrorism’ of militant settlers

Ronen Bar sparks row with letter to Netanyahu about actions of ‘hilltop youth’ being a ‘large stain on Judaism’

The head of Israel’s security agency, Shin Bet, has warned the country’s leaders that Jewish terrorism in the West Bank is out of control and has become a serious threat to national security.

Ronen Bar issued the warning in a letter to the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, the attorney general and members of the Israeli cabinet, some of whom are outspoken backers of the extremist settlers responsible for the escalating violence.

Continue reading...

Ex-Mossad chief ‘disappointed’ over alleged threats against ICC prosecutor

Tamir Pardo says alleged campaign under his successor ‘sounds like Cosa Nostra-style blackmail’

A former head of the Mossad has described his disbelief and disappointment at allegations that his successor at the Israeli intelligence agency threatened a chief prosecutor of the international criminal court (ICC), likening the conduct to mafia-like tactics.

Tamir Pardo, who served as director of the Mossad between 2011 and 2016, was responding to a Guardian investigation published this week about an alleged operation by the Israeli spy service to put pressure on the former ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda to abandon a war crimes investigation.

Continue reading...

Israeli campaign against ICC may be ‘crimes against justice’, say legal experts

International lawyers believe conduct of Israeli intelligence service should be investigated by prosecutor in The Hague

Efforts by Israel’s intelligence agencies to undermine and influence the international criminal court (ICC) could amount to “offences against the administration of justice” and should be investigated by its chief prosecutor, legal experts have said.

Responding to revelations about Israeli surveillance and espionage operations against the ICC, multiple leading international law experts said the conduct of Israeli intelligence services could amount to criminal offences.

Continue reading...

Wednesday briefing: How Israeli intelligence spent nine years interfering with an international court

In today’s newsletter: a Guardian investigation details a ‘war’ on the international criminal court by the country – here’s what we know so far

Sign up here for our daily newsletter, First Edition

Good morning. “You should help us and let us take care of you. You don’t want to be getting into things that could compromise your security or that of your family.”

That is a terrifying message for anyone to hear from the head of the Mossad, Israel’s foreign intelligence agency. Even more astonishing is that this was a message to the chief prosecutor of the international criminal court (ICC).

Israel-Gaza war | The Biden administration has said recent Israeli operations in Gaza’s southern city of Rafah do not constitute a major ground operation that crosses any US red lines, and that it is closely monitoring a probe into Sunday’s deadly strike on a tent camp it called “tragic”. The comments came as Israeli tanks were seen in central Rafah.

General election 2024 | Angela Rayner has been cleared of criminal wrongdoing by the Greater Manchester police, with the deputy Labour leader attacking the “desperate tactics” of Tory MPs that led to the investigation. Elsewhere, it has been reported that Diane Abbott has had the party whip restored – but will not be allowed to stand again for Labour at the next election.

Trump trial | Donald Trump’s secret plot to bury negative press ahead of the 2016 election deprived Americans of their right to choose a candidate at the ballot box, the prosecution said in closing arguments at the former president’s New York hush-money trial. Read the key takeaways as the jury begins its deliberations on Wednesday.

Georgia | Georgia’s parliament has voted to override a presidential veto on the controversial “foreign influence” law, a move that is poised to derail the EU aspirations of many Georgians in favour of closer ties with Moscow. The bill is now likely to become law in the coming days.

Ticket prices | Some of the most powerful ticket touts in the UK have discussed a secret plan to try to scupper a Labour crackdown on the industry via a lobbying campaign, footage filmed by the Guardian reveals. At a private event this month, one of the UK’s biggest ticket touts warned that “we are fucked” if Labour’s clampdown went ahead.

Continue reading...

Spying, hacking and intimidation: Israel’s nine-year ‘war’ on the ICC exposed

Exclusive: Investigation reveals how intelligence agencies tried to derail war crimes prosecution, with Netanyahu ‘obsessed’ with intercepts

When the chief prosecutor of the international criminal court (ICC) announced he was seeking arrest warrants against Israeli and Hamas leaders, he issued a cryptic warning: “I insist that all attempts to impede, intimidate or improperly influence the officials of this court must cease immediately.”

Karim Khan did not provide specific details of attempts to interfere in the ICC’s work, but he noted a clause in the court’s foundational treaty that made any such interference a criminal offence. If the conduct continued, he added, “my office will not hesitate to act”.

Continue reading...

Revealed: Israeli spy chief ‘threatened’ ICC prosecutor over war crimes inquiry

Mossad director Yossi Cohen personally involved in secret plot to pressure Fatou Bensouda to drop Palestine investigation, sources say

The former head of the Mossad, Israel’s foreign intelligence agency, allegedly threatened a chief prosecutor of the international criminal court in a series of secret meetings in which he tried to pressure her into abandoning a war crimes investigation, the Guardian can reveal.

Yossi Cohen’s covert contacts with the ICC’s then prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, took place in the years leading up to her decision to open a formal investigation into alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in occupied Palestinian territories.

Continue reading...

Ceasefire talks raise Gaza hopes but 1.5m trapped in Rafah fear the worst

Closed-door negotiations in Paris and UN efforts in New York yield conflicting reports of progress, but city of Rafah remains in Israel’s firing line

A closed-door meeting of spy chiefs, military officials and diplomats has briefly renewed hopes of a potential ceasefire deal amid fierce debates at the United Nations, but observers have warned that time is running out to make progress and prevent a looming Israeli offensive on Gaza’s southernmost city.

The secretive talks at an unknown location in Paris involved David Barnea, the head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence service, conducting separate meetings with Egyptian spy chief Abbas Kamel, head of the CIA William Burns and Qatari prime minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani.

Continue reading...

Officials say progress being made on Gaza ceasefire talks

US national security spokesperson says talks in Cairo ‘constructive and moving in right direction’

Israel and Hamas are making progress towards a deal that would bring about a ceasefire and free hostages held in the Gaza Strip, officials with knowledge of the talks have said.

The US national security council spokesperson, John Kirby, speaking as negotiations were held in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, said: “They’ve been constructive and moving in the right direction.”

Continue reading...

Mossad chief says Israel is committed to finding and killing all Hamas leaders

Comments by David Barnea follow assassination of Hamas deputy political chief Saleh al-Arouri in Lebanon

The head of Israel’s foreign intelligence service has vowed to track down and kill all Hamas leaders responsible for attacking Israel, less than a day after a drone strike in Lebanon killed the militant organisation’s second most senior official.

David Barnea said on Wednesday the Mossad was “committed to settling the score with the murderers who descended upon the Gaza envelope” on 7 October and with those who planned the attacks.

Continue reading...

Iran says it has executed Mossad agent accused of spying for Israel

Unnamed person had handed classified information to a ‘Mossad officer’, official Irna news agency reports

An agent of the Mossad, Israel’s intelligence service, has been executed in Iran, the official Irna news agency reported.

“This person communicated with foreign services, specifically [the] Mossad, collecting classified information, and with participation with associates, provided documents to foreign services, including the Mossad,” it said.

Continue reading...

Israel imposing apartheid on Palestinians, says former Mossad chief

Tamir Pardo comments, slammed by ruling Likud party, carry weight because of high regard for intelligence agency in Israel

A former head of the Mossad intelligence agency has said Israel is imposing a form of apartheid on the Palestinians, joining a growing number of prominent Israelis to compare the occupation of the West Bank to South Africa’s defunct system of racial oppression.

But Tamir Pardo’s views will have added impact because of the high regard for Mossad in Israel and because they come at a time when far-right members of Israel’s government are moving to kill off any prospect of an independent Palestinian state.

Continue reading...

Reports of mysterious Mossad operation to find Israeli airman confirmed

Israel prime minister tells Knesset of ‘bold’ mission concerned with fate of missing navigator Lt Col Ron Arad

The Israeli spy agency, the Mossad, launched a complex intelligence operation last month to find information on the whereabouts and fate of an Israeli airman who was shot down over southern Lebanon in 1986.

The existence of the operation to find Lt Col Ron Arad, a navigator on an Israeli jet whose plane went down during a bombing raid, was confirmed by the Israeli prime minister, Naftali Bennett, who told the country’s parliament on Monday that he could share no more details of the “courageous mission”.

Continue reading...

Ex-Mossad chief signals Israel culpability for Iran attacks

Yossi Cohen reveals details of Iran nuclear programme attacks in interview timed to support Netanyahu

The outgoing head of Israel’s foreign intelligence agency, the Mossad, has signalled the country’s clear responsibility for a series of attacks targeting Iran’s nuclear programme in an interview that appeared to have as much to do with Israel’s febrile politics as with Iran.

In a public intervention that appeared timed to help Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, before a Knesset vote on Sunday that could end his 12 consecutive years in office, the agency’s former head Yossi Cohenrevealed details of operations long attributed to Israel.

Continue reading...

James Packer’s ties with Israeli PM and spy chief became ‘national risk’ – report

Australian tycoon was obsessed with Israel’s elite, once kissing feet of an ex-president, local media reports

James Packer’s entanglement with Israel’s elite, including a close personal relationship with Benjamin Netanyahu and the now Mossad chief, was considered a “national risk”, according to an Israeli report, quoting testimony from witnesses in Netanyahu’s corruption trial.

The Australian casino mogul, 53, developed an obsession with the Jewish state over the past few years, once kissing the feet of the former president Shimon Peres when he came for a dinner, according to “a person who was close” to Peres. He also considering converting to Judaism, Haaretz newspaper reported.

Continue reading...