The Spy Machine
Encyclopedia
The Spy Machine was a documentary special about the work of the Mossad
, made by Open Media
and Israfilm and first broadcast by Channel 4
in May 1998. The producer/director was Per-Eric Hawthorne and the writer and narrator was Gordon Thomas.
The Observer
wrote of the film:
The Times
wrote:
The Belfast News Letter said this was the first time ever that Rafael "Rafi" Eitan, legendary first director of operations, was captured on film and went on to claim "the Israelis themselves are desperately unhappy about the Channel 4 film. It accuses Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
of personally authorising the murder of several of the country's Muslim enemies. Channel 4 used Israfilm, which is headed by Zvi Spielmann, a military intelligence veteran who used to head the Israeli censor's office, to open doors for its journalists. They were given unprecedented access to Eitan, former Mossad director general Meir Amit
, Israel's longest-serving spymaster General Yoel Ben Porat, and former director of military intelligence, Uri Saguy."
The newspaper quoted Channel 4
executive David Lloyd:
Mossad
The Mossad , short for HaMossad leModi'in uleTafkidim Meyuchadim , is the national intelligence agency of Israel....
, made by Open Media
Open Media
Open Media is a British television production company, best known for the discussion series After Dark, described by The Daily Mail as "the most intelligent, thought-provoking and interesting programme ever to have been on television"....
and Israfilm and first broadcast by Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
in May 1998. The producer/director was Per-Eric Hawthorne and the writer and narrator was Gordon Thomas.
The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
wrote of the film:
-
- Israel 50: The Spy Machine serves as a clear reminder that Israel is just another country deploying the same old methods to maintain power. Elderly agents of Mossad reminisce, just like their counterparts in MI6 or the CIA, about the good old days of the Cold War, when they had free rein to infiltrate and assassinate state enemies...The killing of Abu JihadAbu JihadKhalil Ibrahim al-Wazir , also known by his kunya "Abu Jihad" , was a Palestinian military leader and founder of the secular nationalist party Fatah...
, ArafatArafatArafat is a surname or given name, and may refer to:* Yasser Arafat , Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization , President of the Palestinian National Authority * Fathi Arafat , Palestinian physician...
's right-hand man, was the last straw for the politicians, who realised when the Oslo negotiations began that Jihad would have been a very valuable asset for Israeli interests...But Ehud BarakEhud BarakEhud Barak is an Israeli politician who served as Prime Minister from 1999 until 2001. He was leader of the Labor Party until January 2011 and holds the posts of Minister of Defense and Deputy Prime Minister in Binyamin Netanyahu's government....
, ex-Mossad agent and now leader of the Labour Party suggests that the best way to gather information is to listen to the BBC and read a newspaper.
- Israel 50: The Spy Machine serves as a clear reminder that Israel is just another country deploying the same old methods to maintain power. Elderly agents of Mossad reminisce, just like their counterparts in MI6 or the CIA, about the good old days of the Cold War, when they had free rein to infiltrate and assassinate state enemies...The killing of Abu Jihad
The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
wrote:
-
- Channel 4's "Israel 50" strand has covered an impressive range of aspects of that nation's life and history, but this must have been the most chilling...A string of former supreme heads of Israeli Intelligence, heads and deputy heads of Mossad and former agents talked with disconcerting frankness about their operations...Rafi EitanRafi EitanRafael "Rafi" Eitan is an Israeli politician and former intelligence officer. Today he leads Gil and is a former Minister of Pensioner Affairs. In the past, he was in charge of the Mossad operation that led to the capture of Adolf Eichmann...
, who snatched Eichmann, would have killed him instantly if a problem had arisen...This was a sympathetic film, which began with a haunting visit to a secret Mossad memorial in the form of an elaborate maze. Here the names of agents tortured, killed or simply disappeared are carved in shaded stone walls. Their daring, efficiency and inventiveness were celebrated. But the subtext was clear also. Mossad has been a loose cannon, capable of manipulating politicians and imposing a ferociously hawkish agenda often against the nation's interest..
- Channel 4's "Israel 50" strand has covered an impressive range of aspects of that nation's life and history, but this must have been the most chilling...A string of former supreme heads of Israeli Intelligence, heads and deputy heads of Mossad and former agents talked with disconcerting frankness about their operations...Rafi Eitan
The Belfast News Letter said this was the first time ever that Rafael "Rafi" Eitan, legendary first director of operations, was captured on film and went on to claim "the Israelis themselves are desperately unhappy about the Channel 4 film. It accuses Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Benjamin Netanyahu
Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu is the current Prime Minister of Israel. He serves also as the Chairman of the Likud Party, as a Knesset member, as the Health Minister of Israel, as the Pensioner Affairs Minister of Israel and as the Economic Strategy Minister of Israel.Netanyahu is the first and, to...
of personally authorising the murder of several of the country's Muslim enemies. Channel 4 used Israfilm, which is headed by Zvi Spielmann, a military intelligence veteran who used to head the Israeli censor's office, to open doors for its journalists. They were given unprecedented access to Eitan, former Mossad director general Meir Amit
Meir Amit
Meir Amit was an Israeli politician and general. He served as Director of the Mossad from 1963 to 1968 before entering politics and holding two ministerial positions.-Biography:...
, Israel's longest-serving spymaster General Yoel Ben Porat, and former director of military intelligence, Uri Saguy."
The newspaper quoted Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
executive David Lloyd:
-
- "Over the last decade, mounting criticisms on many sides have led some people to believe that Mossad is out of kilter with the times. I saw the piece as really about Mossad as a construction of the Israeli state. We talk to key senior insiders, go through some of the major moments in the agency's history and visit the memorial to those who died in Mossad's service. We look at how they lifted Eichmann, and their undercover operations in a number of countries, especially their use of Israeli Arabs in the hostile nations which surround them."