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Israeli intelligence planted listening devices in Sinai and the Golan facilitated the 1967 war
Tel Aviv: «Middle East»
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak has completed the publication of a book in the United States to be published in the near future, in which he is covering the secret of espionage and assassinations carried out by his commando soldiers in various Arab countries such as Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and elsewhere.
According to an informed source, Barak reveals operations that have been unknown for more than 50 years. The book bears the name "My country, my life: fighting for Israel, searching for peace." The members of the ministerial committee, headed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who examines the books authored by former senior officials, allowed their former colleague Ehud Barak access places in secret archives, which no Israeli author was permitted to access before. Including the most secret intelligence gathering in Israel, contributed to Israel's victory in the Six-Day War in 1967 and could have prevented Israel's failure in the October 1973 war.
According to those sources, the book tells the stories by presenting Barak's own personal story, as one of the early commanders of the special command unit, Sayeret Matkal (the Commando of the Army Chief of Staff) and the Military Intelligence Division. Barak led the first operations of this kind, carried out deep in Syrian and Egyptian territory.
In his book, Barak describes, for the first time, in detail, from a personal point of view, the intelligence operations in which he participated, and how he infiltrated into Syrian territory on foot in August 1963 when he received an order to infiltrate a group of five soldiers to the Golan Heights, In order to connect a wiretapping device to a communications line for the Syrian army. "The young lieutenant was sent to brief Chief of Staff Tzvi Tsur - which later became the standard for many patrols - before giving the green light to risk the lives of five soldiers in enemy territory. In his book, Barak details for the first time the details of the operation that led to a strategic and historical breakthrough of Israeli intelligence. The crew, each carrying a Uzi and two cannons, crossed the border north of Kibbutz Dan after dark. They had orders to return at 1:15 am, but they passed through three Syrian soldiers who were sleeping, and had to cross the Banias River, whose waters had been raging since the last rains. The river was deeper and wider than expected at the point that Barak had chosen to cross. When Barak received the order to return, his men ordered the radio to be switched off. After connecting the wiretapping device to the top of the telephone pole, they returned to Israel without being seen by anyone, but three hours later. They were met on the border by the head of military intelligence, Meir Amit. The next day, a box of French champagne bottles arrived at the base of the "Sayeret Matkal" with congratulations from Chief of Staff Tzur.
He also tells how other operations were carried out in the Golan. The information from the installed device became central after less than four years when the Israeli army seized the Golan Heights in the Six Day War within 36 hours.
But the Syrian front was not Israel's main concern in the 1960s. Egypt had the largest Arab army and was determined to unify the Arab world against Israel.
The eavesdropping of the Egyptian army deep into the Sinai requires a much larger and stronger apparatus, not a device that can be carried on the back of the commandos. At that time, the air force received the first Sikorsky S-58s large transport helicopters, and it was decided that Barak would lead the first operation of the Sayeret Matkal unit to be carried out by helicopters. "Until now," he writes, "most of the details of the Egyptian eavesdropping program are still confidential." However, it provides a lot of new details, including the fact that planners consulted with geologists, to determine the best places to put eavesdropping devices, and methods developed to hide them from the eyes of the Egyptian desert soldiers.
Barak does not mention how the device was connected at the beginning of 1964 to the Egyptian communications line and its concealment, but reveals that all five members of the team were asked to make sure it was installed before returning to the point of contact with the helicopter. However, the encounter with the helicopter was not carried out because the dense fog was hovering over the desert, and the helicopter almost crashed before landing. This was Barak's first task, which was approved by the new chief of staff, Yitzhak Rabin, followed by other similar operations that allowed Israeli intelligence to obtain a clear picture of the movements of the Egyptian army.
The third installation of eavesdropping equipment, in which Ehud Barak took part, took place in the early 1970s. In the process, larger helicopters were needed, and the operation involved an attack on Egyptian installations in order to hide the real mission. Helicopters flew over the Suez Canal. As in previous missions, Barak's team discovered that the installation and concealment of the eavesdropping device was much more difficult than expected. The process was almost canceled before it was almost completed. But senior commanders at the command center told the crew via the radio that there was a lot of time ahead, so the operation was completed before sunrise. "For the first time since we occupied the Sinai, Israel once again got contacts in a live broadcast from inside Egypt," Barak wrote.
These and other devices have been designated as "private sources" and are used by Israel to minimize the risk of their discovery. On the eve of the Yom Kippur War, it was activated for a very short period, and if it was used on a larger scale, it might have provided vital intelligence about the Egyptian-Syrian plan for the Yom Kippur War of 1973.
Barak's office commented: "The article, in detail, does not accurately reflect what is going to appear in the book that is currently being printed and will be marketed after five weeks. We recommend waiting and reading the book.
https://aawsat.com/home/article/122...باراك-تكشف-عمليات-تجسس-واغتيالات-في-دول-عربية
