Former Mossad deputy director duped into Hezbollah interview
Ilan Mizrahi gave a TV interview to a Lebanese station affiliated with Hezbollah for a series about the Second Lebanon War without his knowledge; episode aired Saturday.
Yedioth Ahronoth, Ynet's sister publication, revealed that in early August, an Italian journalist, who was hired by Hezbollah to personally interview Israeli officials without their knowing who was behind the project, managed to interview former ministers Tzipi Livni and Amir Peretz, former head of military intelligence Amos Yadlin, and former National Security Advisor Yaakov Amidror. Former Mossad deputy director Ilan Mizrahi joined their ranks on Saturday's program.
That evening, revealed in vivid detail, was the account of the Hezbollah broker who secured the deal that returned the coffins of Regev and Goldwasser in exchange for the release of terrorist Samir Kuntar, four Hezbollah fighters, and 199 bodies of Palestinian and other Arab fighters.
The broker, Wafiq Safah, said: "Throughout the negotiations, we made sure to keep a tight lid on the fate of the soldiers."
The interviews were later broadcast on a Hezbollah series about the conflict on the Al-Mayadeen channel, operated by Hezbollah.
Mizrahi revealed in the interview the dilemmas about the high price of the exchange, and emphasized the values of Judaism in returning the captives.
Mizrahi, as well as the others interviewed, got the explanation that he was being interviewed for "international media," never having imagined that Hezbollah was behind the initiative. Saturday night, he told Yedioth Ahronoth, "I asked permission to be interviewed. I did not know the interview would be broadcast on Hezbollah's channel."
