2025/12/11 by Eldad Ben Aharon · 2 voices
Psychology · Social Sciences · #Cognitive Abilities and Testing #Emotional Intelligence and Performance #Intelligence, Security, War Strategy
paper · doi:10.1080/02684527.2025.2589736
openalex created_date 2025/12/11 · openalex publication_date 2025/12/11 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/15
This article is based on an interview with Tamir Pardo, the 11th Director of the Mossad (2011–2016), conducted in Herzliya, Israel, in the summer of 2023 as part of a broader oral history project on Israeli intelligence culture and leadership. Pardo discusses his background in the military and intelligence sectors and offers perspectives on leadership and the strategic issues that influence Israel’s role in the region. His observations illuminate key patterns in Israel’s national security thinking, particularly the relationship between tactical effectiveness, long-term strategy, and the balance between secrecy, ethics, and political communication. This interview also provides an insider perspective on the Mossad’s institutional history and intelligence culture in the period preceding the surprise attack of 7 October 2023. That event is often described as a watershed moment comparable to Pearl Harbor (1941), the Yom Kippur War (1973), and 11 September 2001.