ISRAEL: Newly appointed Mossad head Tamir Pardo speaks to waiting media outside his house

Record ID: 397143

  • Title: ISRAEL: Newly appointed Mossad head Tamir Pardo speaks to waiting media outside his house
  • Date: 1st December 2010
  • Summary: NIRIT, ISRAEL (NOVEMBER 30, 2010) (REUTERS) MEDIA CREWS AWAITING OUTSIDE HOUSE OF NEWLY APPOINTED HEAD OF MOSSAD, TAMIR PARDO PARDO WALKING OUT OF HIS HOUSE, TELLING REPORTERS "I don't want to be interviewed, we will have plenty of time in the future." MAN WATCHING (SOUNDBITE) (Hebrew) NEWLY APPOINTED HEAD OF MOSSAD, TAMIR PARDO, SAYING: "Guys, thank you very much. (Q
  • Embargoed: 16th December 2010 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Israel, Israel
  • Country: Israel
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA9S8G1JJQ93GU0W9NUCR1DD2DK
  • Story Text: A veteran Mossad spy was named to succeed director Meir Dagan on Monday (November 29), signalling the Israeli government's confidence in the intelligence service despite fallout from the assassination of a Hamas commander in Dubai.
    Nominating Tamir Pardo for a job at the heart of Israel's secret war against Iran, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said he had "decades-worth of rich experience in the Mossad ... and is the right man to usher the organisation through the coming years in the face of complicated challenges".
    Pardo will next month replace Dagan, a hawkish ex-general who took over the Mossad in 2002 as part of an effort by then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to hone more aggressive espionage.
    Dagan was widely seen as responsible for a wave of covert actions including the sabotage of Iranian nuclear projects and assassination of Palestinian and Lebanese guerrilla leaders.
    Pardo, 57, served as a young officer in Israel's top commando regiment under Netanyahu's brother Yonatan, who died leading the rescue of hostages held by pro-Palestinian gunmen at Uganda's Entebbe airport in 1976.
    Pardo spoke to waiting media outside his house on Tuesday (November 30),and said he didn't want to be interviewed.
    Asked how his family reacted to his appointment, he said "As you can imagine" and walked back into his house.
    Joining the Mossad in 1980, Pardo ascended the ranks to twice serve as Dagan's deputy before resigning last year. A source briefed on the episode said Pardo, like other Mossad officers of the same generation, had despaired at Dagan's apparent reluctance to groom a successor.
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