عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Features

New Mossad Deputy Approved

Deputy Yossi Cohen attends the weekly cabinet meeting at his office in Jerusalem on Jan. 10, 2016. (AP)
Deputy Yossi Cohen attends the weekly cabinet meeting at his office in Jerusalem on Jan. 10, 2016. (AP)
TT
TT

New Mossad Deputy Approved

Deputy Yossi Cohen attends the weekly cabinet meeting at his office in Jerusalem on Jan. 10, 2016. (AP)
Deputy Yossi Cohen attends the weekly cabinet meeting at his office in Jerusalem on Jan. 10, 2016. (AP)

The Senior Appointments Advisory Committee has approved Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to appoint the deputy director of Mossad as the next director of the Israeli intelligence agency. The man known as “D” will replace current director Yosef “Yossi” Meir Cohen, whose term is scheduled to end in January.

Committee Chair Supreme Court Justice Eliezer Goldberg said that the members’ decision had been unanimous and found no issues with the appointment despite some criticism from political circles. Netanyahu will bring the committee’s decision to his government for final approval soon and subsequently reveal his name.

The man known as “D” is the deputy director of Mossad, is 55 years of age, and is a father to four children. He is close to Cohen, and it is believed that he will continue his course. He did his military service in Sayeret Matkal, the General Staff’s elite special operations force. Twenty-five years ago, he was transferred to the Mossad to develop his skills, and “D” has been working closely since then with the current deputy, who recommended him as his successor to Netanyahu.

According to Israeli sources, he was recruited by the Mossad at 30 years of age and immediately started training with the Tzomet division, which is responsible for identifying, recruiting, and operating agents around the world. There he met Cohen, who headed the division at the time. Together, the pair cooperated on several sensitive and complicated missions, among the most notable of which was stealing the Iranian nuclear archive from Tehran, transporting it on a truck and bringing it to Tel Aviv before the Iranian authorities noticed it.

Netanyahu didn’t consult security agency officials or Defense Minister Benny Gantz on the decision. However, the latter is unlucky to hinder the appointment.

Writing for Haaretz journalist and research Yossi Molem says new the deputy will face many challenges, most prominent of which will be continuing the successful war against Iran and its vassals in the regions “against the backdrop of Joe Biden’s election as the next US president, and the desire of the president-elect to come to understandings and even a new agreement with Iran that would include removing America’s economic sanctions against it.” However, he believes the Mossad will still have the freedom to conduct its activities, as had been the case under Joe Biden. Another challenge will be maintaining the expansion of the Mossad’s Middle Eastern relationships, which has been pivotal to its recent peace agreements.

Most Viewed

 
 
Features

Damascus’ Mazzeh 86 Neighborhood, Witness of The Two-Assad Era

Members of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent stand near the wreckage of a car after what the Syrian state television said was a "guided missile attack" on the car in the Mazzeh area of Damascus, Syria October 21, 2024. REUTERS/Firas Makdesi
Members of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent stand near the wreckage of a car after what the Syrian state television said was a "guided missile attack" on the car in the Mazzeh area of Damascus, Syria October 21, 2024. REUTERS/Firas Makdesi
TT
TT

Damascus’ Mazzeh 86 Neighborhood, Witness of The Two-Assad Era

Members of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent stand near the wreckage of a car after what the Syrian state television said was a "guided missile attack" on the car in the Mazzeh area of Damascus, Syria October 21, 2024. REUTERS/Firas Makdesi
Members of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent stand near the wreckage of a car after what the Syrian state television said was a "guided missile attack" on the car in the Mazzeh area of Damascus, Syria October 21, 2024. REUTERS/Firas Makdesi

In the Mazzeh 86 neighborhood, west of the Syrian capital Damascus, the names of many shops, grocery stores, and public squares still serve as a reminder of the era of ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his late father, Hafez al-Assad.

This is evident in landmarks like the “Al-Hafez Restaurant,” one of the prominent features of this area. Squares such as “Al-Areen,” “Officers,” and “Bride of the Mountain” evoke memories of the buildings surrounding them, which once housed influential officials and high-ranking officers in intelligence and security agencies. These individuals instilled fear in Syrians for five decades until their historic escape on the night of the regime’s collapse last month.

In this neighborhood, the effects of Israeli bombing are clearly visible, as it was targeted multiple times. Meanwhile, its narrow streets and alleys were strewn with military uniforms abandoned by leaders who fled before military operations arrived and liberated the area from their grip on December 8 of last year.

Here, stark contradictions come to light during a tour by Asharq Al-Awsat in a district that, until recently, was largely loyal to the former president. Muaz, a 42-year-old resident of the area, recounts how most officers and security personnel shed their military uniforms and discarded them in the streets on the night of Assad’s escape.

He said: “Many of them brought down their weapons and military ranks in the streets and fled to their hometowns along the Syrian coast.”

Administratively part of Damascus, Mazzeh 86 consists of concrete blocks randomly built between the Mazzeh Western Villas area, the Mazzeh Highway, and the well-known Sheikh Saad commercial district. Its ownership originally belonged to the residents of the Mazzeh area in Damascus. The region was once agricultural land and rocky mountain terrain. The peaks extending toward Mount Qasioun were previously seized by the Ministry of Defense, which instructed security and army personnel to build homes there without requiring property ownership documents.

Suleiman, a 30-year-old shop owner, who sells white meat and chicken, hails from the city of Jableh in the coastal province of Latakia. His father moved to this neighborhood in the 1970s to work as an army assistant.

Suleiman says he hears the sound of gunfire every evening, while General Security patrols roam the streets “searching for remnants of the former regime and wanted individuals who refuse to surrender their weapons. We fear reprisals and just want to live in peace.”

He mentioned that prices before December 8 were exorbitant and beyond the purchasing power of Syrians, with the price of a kilogram of chicken exceeding 60,000 Syrian pounds and a carton of eggs reaching 75,000.

“A single egg was sold for 2,500 pounds, which is far beyond the purchasing power of any employee in the public or private sector,” due to low salaries and the deteriorating living conditions across the country,” Suleiman added.

On the sides of the roads, pictures of the fugitive president and his father, Hafez al-Assad, were torn down, while military vehicles were parked, awaiting instructions.

Maram, 46, who previously worked as a civilian employee in the Ministry of Defense, says she is waiting for the resolution of employment statuses for workers in army institutions. She stated: “So far, there are no instructions regarding our situation. The army forces and security personnel have been given the opportunity for settlement, but there is no talk about us.”

The neighborhood, in its current form, dates back to the 1980s when Rifaat al-Assad, the younger brother of former President Hafez al-Assad, was allowed to construct the “Defense Palace,” which was referred to as “Brigade 86.” Its location is the same area now known as Mazzeh Jabal 86.

The area is divided into two parts: Mazzeh Madrasa (School) and Mazzeh Khazan (Tank). The first takes its name from the first school built and opened in the area, while the second is named after the water tank that supplies the entire Mazzeh region.

Two sources from the Mazzeh Municipality and the Mukhtar’s office estimate the neighborhood’s current population at approximately 200,000, down from over 300,000 before Assad’s fall. Most residents originate from Syria’s coastal regions, followed by those from interior provinces like Homs and Hama. There was also a portion of Kurds who had moved from the Jazira region in northeastern Syria to live there, but most returned to their areas due to the security grip and after the “Crisis Cell” bombing that killed senior security officials in mid-2012.

Along the main street connecting Al-Huda Square to Al-Sahla Pharmacy, torn images of President Hafez al-Assad are visible for the first time in this area in five decades. On balconies and walls, traces of Bashar al-Assad’s posters remain, bearing witness to his 24-year era.