Though Israel is TOTALLY surrounded by mortal foes – pincer-like – there are too many who still opine: this or that Human Intel “pressure” (mental or physical) dare not be applied to save countless Jewish lives, perhaps even half of world Jewry. Let’s face facts: when the enemy aims for Israel’s jugular they are targeting Jews, even though Arabs in Israel can be caught in the crossfire. In any case, they are viewed (by the wider Arab world and others) as collateral damage, “martyrs” of sorts. Twisted. Demons.
So for all those sissypants (bleeding hearts, but never for Jews) taking “pity” on stone cold Jew-killers, instead of exerting angst over Jewish deaths, don’t even dare. NOT at this address. Not only that, but IDF soldiers are maligned for whatever they do, or don’t, including NOT raping PA Arab women! Can’t catch a break. You got that? And while every nation has intelligence units designed to save their own citizens, suffice it to say, there is NO other nation in the world as imperiled as Israel.
Regardless of this or that “peace” treaty, the fact of the matter is – as revealed in this blogger’s interview at Inquisitr-Arabs/Muslims view Israel/Jews as a cancer in the heart of the Muslim world and will do anything, when the opportunity presents, to strike. Never mind the thousands of years of Jewish presence in Israel, the ancient biblical/historical homeland. From time immemorial. Water off the enemy’s back.
As such, it is more than worth celebrating (at least in ones mind eye) the following “citation for excellence”. Forward march… קדימה צעד…Kadima !
Citation for excellence awarded IDF undercover 504 Unit
Director of Military Intelligence (AMAN) Maj. Gen. Aviv Kochavi Tuesday awarded a citation of excellence to IDF undercover Unit 504 for “a unique operation of an undisclosed nature, which once again broke the bounds of covert activity.” He praised the unit’s “original, innovative work which demonstrated unimaginable creativity and audacity” and credited the unit and its commander, Colonel K, with “generating changes in recent years which enabled Israel to grapple with regional challenges.”
A must view youtube will give the readers a glimmer into the above’s stealth warriors. Israel’s Shadow Warriors.
Shadow Warriors: IDF Human Intelligence Division ‘UNIT 504’ | יחידה 504 – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNXQS-lik64
MORE on Israel’s secret warriors, but surely its real secrets must stay hidden!
This is one of the most intriguing and especially the most secretive units in the IDF
Even their name – 504 is not known to many.
IDF’s spying unit.
It’s agents are sometimes people who are close to Assad or to Nasrallah, you can only think and try and imagine what they are doing there behind enemy lines, what info this unit collects…..
Now, Head of Military Intelligence, Aviv Kochavi, tries to reinforce the Shadow unit, which tonight, gets outside to the light.
Nir Dvori and Ulpan Shishi (friday studio news broadcast) crew accompanied to the 504 unit’s members:
~ Arabic song… ~
(In Arabic) Look at me. Who are you? -I’m Sabri. -Who? -Sabri. -Which Sabri? -Sabri Abu Yihye.
-From Where? From G’ibshit.
It’s really alot of psychology, Ability to inter – personal,
to learn the person standing in front of you and to analyze the points which you can reach him throughout it and to receive the intel.
-Calm down! -Do you have some water? -look at me! -Do you have some water?
-Sure I have. – I didn’t drink for three days now.
-Don’t worry. Look at me. -Thanks. -Everything’s gonna be just fine.
One of the best capabilities of the investigator is to spot when this who’s in front of him is telling answers to satisfy him and not because those are the right answers.
In the end of the day it’s a story about relationships between people,
we’re talking about the enemy, sometimes hard and sophisticated,
sometime’s also such that from different motives asked your closeness.
Your’e not answering me logically. Your’e not just a shepherd.
Your’e right. That’s the third time I’m coming to this area.
My clothes were torn, and I’ve found here a Syrian soldier which you killed.
Where t… look at me! Who are you trying to fool?
-I’m not trying to fool you. -Don’t tell me fairy tales.
-No, I swear, I’m not lying. -Don’t tell me stories, I’m telling you.
Please, I’m not lying to you.
-Your’e not lying? -No, I swear.
Endless stories were told about this unit, in public their name is known as-504 but their real name had been changed.
Here it will appear as the Human Intelligence Division in the intelligence corps, a long name like the rumors about what’s happening there,
Inside dark rooms and outside of the borders.
I’m telling you the truth, please, believe me.
-I don’t belong to the Syrian army, really. – Okay
I belong to Hezbollah.
I’ve been told to go here before three weeks and to bring a missile launcher with me.
I had a missile launcher, and I had to make an observation on you and to detect targets. -with who? I wasn’t alone.
-We were two. -Two. Where’s the other one?
Mahmoud, Mahmoud. You already got him.
Go outside, Slowly, slowly with hands over your head and ID cards!
Go out! That’s a rare access to a training of the unit, first time that AMAN agrees to reveal a tap from it’s peoples activity.
In the training we have been they practiced capturing of a Lebanese Village.
To the house here the prisoners and the investigators, the HAKSHABIM (prisoners-investigators) are brought in, and the investigators need to extract information from them, and fast.
You need to know in very short, defined time,to diagnose if there’s a problem, if there’s something strange.
This is done by a very extensive intelligence knowledge,
very good familiarity with the sector and the ability to interact well with the suspect.
It’s not a physical pressure, or such stuff, thats just Intelligence capability, ~Gun shots~
Interpersonal-contact, interaction, and knowing to ask the right question and to not give up.
Such fast investigation in the field brought to the changing in real time
Of plans of Operation “Cast Lead” for example, as when a prisoner’s-investigator which joined the paratroopers brigade, which fought in north Gaza Strip, brought to exposure of a Hamas code map on it where marked the fighting positions, the IED’s and the traps that were hidden in advance by the organization.
We waited for your tanks to come, we’ve been told that they will come one day, and we were supposed to shoot on you.
-It’s what they told us, it’s what we’ve done. -That’s the mission they gave you?
I wait for you here for three weeks already.
To which unit of Hezbollah do you belong?
To Hezbollah’s Southern unit.
We had a missile launcher and two rockets. -From what kind?
-“Kornet” (ATGM) -Where is it located now?
-In the place I’ve been caught, -yes. -There’s a cave, it’s located there.
-In the cave? -We hid them in the cave, yes.
But over the years the criticism has increased also from inside on they ways the unit’s operates.
Human rights organizations pointed criticism about how they extracted information of the ‘participants’ by the members of 504, from physical violence to humiliation, it’s also got to courts.
There’s stories ‘from here to until further notice’. In the end we work very very natty, very precisely and very very legitimated.
It’s not like is if there’s a pressing situation, a ticking bomb, something like that, you’ll allow to yourself to exert pressures in any way because you understand that here’s a matter of life situation?
The concept of ‘allow myself’ is NA here. I will do exactly like a brigade commander will do when his soldiers are in danger, he know’s what to do according to the orders, according to the laws of the State of Israel.
Same thing about investigator- if there’s need to save our forces,
Of course the situation then requires a much more intense activity.
Such was Mustafa Dirani.
Sometimes it’s not only the battle field intelligence, this time the investigators were required to crack a quality source who was abducted across the border which in Israel believed to be giving info about Ron Arad’s fate.
Bring, bring the baseball bat, where is it?
Do you want us to stick it in your ass?
And that I’ll also take a picture of the bat in your ass?
Like in the medical world, fitting the medical crew to the wounded’s condition.
As it is more valued detainee, which we believe having more qualitative and important intel, we will make sure the investigating crew is fit for this ~gun shot~
Is it possible today to extract information from a human without even lifting a hand against him even one time, or to tie his hands or to do some other act which is physical?
Look, for some reason there’s common thinking that investigations are force.
I say unequivocally: investigations are brain.
The State of Israel and the Investigative bodies which located inside her are working by law, what’s allowed – allowed, what’s forbidden – isn’t done.
With Dirani it’s ended in prosecution on violence and rape meanwhile he’s directing from he’s living place in Lebanon a tort claim against the State of Israel.
We ain’t messing with the question of is it possible to recruit an agent,
is it possible to find somebody to give intel in a specific place, in a specific situation.
We, we are having one answer to this question, and it: possible.
Now the question is how it’s done.
Other body of the unit working in agents activating according to foreign reports, in neighbor and far countries in the Middle East.
We are meeting with the enemy, with the most despicable enemy sometimes, and we are making an impossible relationship of contact and mutual trust.
We always remember that it’s the enemy and sometimes, even when you trust an enemy there’s can be unpleasant situations that the enemy is turning on you, and you can also get hurt.
It’s a very sensitive domain, you almost can’t give examples of success,
but the human intelligence is an important component in building the information and allows spy, prevention and elimination capabilities.
The capability to bring up the background, the “colour”, not only the dry intel, are important sometimes even more.
There are agents who passed to cooperation from father to son.
To every human, also to you and me, there’s the same code, same key, which must be identified.
And as, we’re trying to find to each and everyone this same key so we can get to him, trust him and later on we will be able to make him what we need so we can bring qualitative intel.
To each operator will be adjusted a unique actuator, such who will fit to him personally – in the age, in knowleage, in nature.
Even the myth of motives is shattered here.
Money is regulary some kind of a grip, it’s the answer you give to yourself for why I do that act.
We are looking for the deeper stratum.
We don’t have a one type of spy which we read in John le Carre books,
that he is the ultimate spy.
It can be the teacher, it can be the enemy’s military commander and it can be that same shepherd.
A series of failures, according to foreign reports, in Lebanon,there was exposed Agents Networks activated by the unit, and the dramatic and fast changes in the Middle Eastern nations surrounding us brought to an understanding that they aren’t in the place they want to be at.
Like here in the pictures which were taken near to Matola several years ago.
An agent comes for a meeting with his actuator near the fence, the army secures, when suddenly shots were fired from the Lebanese side wounding the agent.
He’s exposed, somebody tried to shut him down.
Come, come!
-Whats that? – a strike. -indeed, a strike inside that…
These days, almost Wild West in Southern Lebanon, won’t be back again.
Right here, kinswoman of a Lebanese agents who worked with Israel being smuggled to the country.
NOW you can finally show these pictures, which were taken some years ago at the border.
The unit’s members welcoming her, she’s agitated, they move her to safety place, why is he filming?
Now there was a need to restore the relevance of the unit.
Formulated a new operational concept, people outside AMAN has been used too, it’s not always got through without criticism from inside and refusing.
When there started getting quality intel, in short time understood that it’s the right way.
If there was a need, stoped the connection with agents who stoped bringing up quality info, such you can now get with other means, technological for example.
Unit 504 was established 60 years ago.
And yes, in such digital and technological world there’s still a place for the human agent.
Who is a weak link or can be driven to things we want it’s that same human intelligence that is like a smart bomb which you can set to the place you need it to be.
There are many places in the M.E they know very well, part of the unit’s members were born there, now, in days of revolutions from Tunisia to Syria they follow with interest for what is changing, I don’t mention the places, because we’re basically everywhere, and in every place IDF and AMAN needs us.
But definitely there are areas who are, to the human story, are areas
that are unstable areas, unknown future,those are areas we love.
We really love filling vacuums and spaces.
We are entering places we wasn’t before as well, also in methods we didn’t operated by before, the trick is to be relevant and effective to the needs of the IDF and Israel.
What’s do getting revealed is when something goes wrong.
Like here, at the Tunnel Road 11 years ago.
One of the agents actuator, Lt. Col. Yehuda Edri, was killed by a Palestinian collaborator days of the beginning of the 2nd Intifada and terror wave that swept the country, and unit 504 was called to join the effort although wasn’t trained for such type of work.
This game between a full trust in who you activate to a full reversal, is very dangerous.
Yehuda was a close friend, that the circumstances led in the end to his murder, and this is part of the risks that our job comes with.
-I’ve heard they hid an IED, but I didn’t saw. -where? -in the road.
-in the air? -No, in the ground.
-Where they placed the IED? tell me. -In the road, in the road.
-Which road? -That falls from G’baa to G’ibshit.
But I don’t know where’s the IED, I didn’t saw him, I’ve just heard they put it, Mohammed told me.
The unit grew up lately and is expected to grow even further.
We’re talking about unknown soldiers, it’s hard to reveal them, to show what they are really doing. Their names associated with a negative image, it was important to them to show also a different face, not only army of tanks and jets, but such as quiet, black and smart to show there is fighting in other way too.
Having been privileged to enjoy a deep friendship with Tsafrir Ronen, one such stealth warrior, and even without privy to any of his top secrets, there are few (among the general population) who measure up in integrity and dedication.
Thus, if a fraction of those who fight on behalf of Israel’s survival within this Human Intel Unit (and other units similarly assigned) can be compared to Tsafrir Ronen, z”l (of blessed memory), the nation could not be in better hands, never mind Israel’s disastrous political leadership.
Adina Kutnicki 