Livni. Top secret past
Photo: AFP
Agent Livni makes British headlines
Leading candidate for Kadima chairmanship, potential successor of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert strikes fancy with British newspaper detailing her involvement in pursuing Arab terrorists as part of her past career as Mossad agent
The world is showing an interest in former secret agent Tzipi Livni. The London-based Sunday Times has reported that the foreign minister was a Mossad agent in Paris during the 1980s, when the Israeli intelligence and special operations institute was attempting to assassinate some Palestinian terrorists in Europe.
According to the report, Livni served in the Mossad during the assassination of senior PLO official Mamoun Meraish in Athens in August 1983. The ‘Times’ claims Livni was not directly involved in the assassination, during which Meraish was shot dead by a squad of two motorcycle riders, yet her Mossad activities have remained a mystery.
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Livni’s past as a Mossad agent is a well-known fact, but the ‘Times’ adds a few other details that have never been published. According to the publication, while Livni was based in Paris, she participated in chasing Arab terrorists throughout Europe.
“Tzipi was not an office girl,” said an acquaintance. “She was a clever woman with an IQ of 150. She blended in well in European capitals, working with male agents, most of them ex-commandos, taking out Arab terrorists.”
The profile article notes that the legacy of the Livni family is intertwined with the struggle to establish the State. Both her parents were arrested during the 1940s, as part of the Jewish underground movements’ fight against the ruling British Mandate.
