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Local Spies with Lethal Gear: How Israel Reinvented Covert Action
(Wall Street Journal) Daniel Michaels - When Israel launched its 12-day attack on Iran in June, a network of secret agents on the ground proved critical in crippling Tehran's defenses. Some of them weren't professional spies or commandos. They were ordinary locals empowered by Israeli high-tech gadgetry. Israel's intelligence agency, Mossad, had spent years identifying and cultivating inside Iran a silent force, including victims of Iranian repression, ethnic minorities sidelined by regime policies, and people from Afghanistan and other neighboring countries who can live and work openly in Iran. At secret camps outside Iran, Israel trained its recruits to operate sophisticated, automated and remotely-controlled equipment. Then Mossad instructed them to go about their daily routines across Iran, as part of what it calls a "drawer operation" - one that sits quietly in reserve until the drawer needs to be opened. That day was June 13, when the strategically located agents used rockets, drones and other weapons smuggled into Iran to destroy nearby air-defense systems and missile launchers. The transformation of clandestine action has been made possible by increasingly compact electronics, batteries and explosives. Spy agencies can equip field agents with capabilities unimaginable a few years ago. With the advent of powerful remote or autonomous devices, the people deploying them can be amateurs with minimal training. Being local, they can remain hidden or escape before an attack.