Tamir Pardo

Tamir Pardo
תמיר פרדו‎
File:Tamir Pardo.jpg
11th Director of the Mossad
In office January 1, 2011 – January 5, 2016
Prime Minister	Benjamin Netanyahu
Preceded by	Meir Dagan
Succeeded by	Yossi Cohen
Personal details
Born	1953 Tel Aviv, Israel
Alma mater	Tel Aviv University
Military service
Allegiance	Israel
Service/branch	Israel Defense Forces
Years of service	1971–present
Battles/wars	Operation Entebbe

Tamir Pardo (Hebrew: תמיר פרדו‎; born 1953) is the former Director of the Mossad, taking over the role from Meir Dagan on January 1, 2011. The appointment was announced by Israeli prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on November 29, 2010.

Biography

Pardo was born in Tel Aviv to a family of Turkish and Serbian Jewish origins. At age 18, when he began his compulsory service in the Israel Defense Forces, he volunteered for the paratroopers. He graduated from an officers' course, and later served as a communication officer in the elite special forces unit Sayeret Matkal. He also served in the Shaldag Unit. He was a member of the unit under the command of Yonatan "Yoni" Netanyahu and participated in Operation Entebbe. Netanyahu, elder brother to current Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, was killed during the operation.

After completing his military service, Pardo joined the Mossad in 1980, and served in entry-level technical positions. He took part in several classified operations, and was awarded the Israel Security Prize three times. He rose through the ranks and eventually became head of the "Keshet" department, responsible for operations, including obtaining electronic intelligence through wiretaps and photographic methods. In 2005, he was in line for promotion to the organization's number 2 position, when another individual was given the job. Mossad Director-General Meir Dagan thereupon lent Pardo to the IDF, where he served as a senior advisor for operations to the Israeli General Staff. He served in this position during the 2006 Lebanon War. After Dagan fired his number 2, he invited Pardo to return to the Mossad and assume the role. Pardo did so in the belief that when Dagan retired, he would be offered the job. However, Dagan's term was extended and he didn't retire when expected. This led Pardo to leave the Mossad, whereupon he went into private business with Israeli Internet gambling entrepreneur Noam Lanir.

Mossad leadership

Israeli media reported that Netanyahu's first candidate for the role of Mossad chief, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries's CEO, retired Major General Shlomo Yanai, was offered the job but turned it down. Of several other candidates, Pardo was the only one to have served in the Mossad. His choice may reflect a wish on the part of Prime Minister Netanyahu to signal continuity by choosing a candidate from within the ranks.

It was anticipated that Pardo would continue the work of his predecessor, Meir Dagan, in attempting to thwart any attempts by the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to build a nuclear weapon.

On August 2, 2011, German news website Spiegel Online published an article named "Mossad Behind Tehran Assassinations, Says Source", claiming receiving information from "an Israeli intelligence source", linking Mossad under Tamir Pardo as its chief to the assassination of Iranian nuclear scientist Darioush Rezaeinejad in Tehran on July 23, 2011. The report was reprinted by several news agencies, yet without providing additional sources to confirm the information.

During the 20th Knesset Tamir Pardo was asked by the Office of the Prime Minister to continue with a new pay raise due to his excellent work.