Chapter 7

Mossad: The Institute

The intelligence agency that operates by its own rules — from covert assassinations to nuclear espionage, documented through declassified files and sworn testimony.

Veritas Worldwide · March 2026 · 1949–Present

On December 13, 1949, Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion signed the order that created the Central Institute for Intelligence and Security — what would become the Mossad.

would become the Mossad.[1] The agency was reorganized in March 1951 and incorporated directly into the Prime Minister's Office, where it has remained ever since — reporting exclusively to the Prime Minister, not to the Knesset or any parliamentary committee.[1] The Mossad's full name is HaMossad leModiʿin uleTafkidim Meyuḥadim — "The Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations." Israeli journalist Ronen Bergman, who spent eight years interviewing over 1,000 intelligence operatives for his book Rise and Kill First, described the Mossad as functioning as a "deep state" due to its accountability structure: it answers to one person, the sitting Prime Minister, and its budget, operations, and personnel are classified.[1] The official seal of the Mossad. The agency's motto, from Proverbs 11:14: "Where no counsel is, the people fall, but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety." Source: Israeli Government.