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20 - ORGANIZATIONS/GOVERNMENT/INTERNATIONAL/LAKAM.md

@@ -9,11 +9,11 @@ start: 1957
 end: 1985
 location: "Tel Aviv, Israel"
 ---
-[[LAKAM]] (Hebrew acronym for Science Liaison Bureau) was an Israeli Ministry of Defense intelligence agency, previously known as the Office of Special Tasks. It was set up to gather and exchange technology and intelligence with foreign military industries.[^1][^2]
+[[LAKAM]] (Hebrew acronym for Science Liaison Bureau) was an Israeli Ministry of Defense intelligence agency, previously known as the Office of Special Tasks. It was set up to gather and exchange technology and intelligence with foreign military industries. Under its founding director [[Binyamin Blumberg]], LAKAM agents operated worldwide, collecting technical information and setting up front companies in [[Europe]] and [[Latin America]] to purchase high-tech equipment from the [[United States]] that U.S. export controls would otherwise deny to [[Israel]].[^1][^2]
 
 ### Leadership and Operations
 
-In the early 1980s, LAKAM was widely known by its Hebrew acronym. [[Rafael Eitan]], a crony of [[Ariel Sharon]], was appointed its new head. LAKAM operations in the [[United States]] produced a steady stream of routinely transferred scientific and technical documents, including [[KH-11]] imagery and reporting and assessments from U.S. embassies and intelligence operatives inside [[Saudi Arabia]], [[Jordan]], and [[Egypt]]. Some of this material was marked JUMBO, indicating it was not to be discussed with American counterparts.[^2]
+In the early 1980s, LAKAM was widely known by its Hebrew acronym. [[Rafael Eitan]], a crony of [[Ariel Sharon]], was appointed its new head, succeeding [[Binyamin Blumberg]]. LAKAM operations in the [[United States]] produced a steady stream of routinely transferred scientific and technical documents, including [[KH-11]] imagery and reporting and assessments from U.S. embassies and intelligence operatives inside [[Saudi Arabia]], [[Jordan]], and [[Egypt]]. Some of this material was marked JUMBO, indicating it was not to be discussed with American counterparts.[^2]
 
 ### U.S. Spy Network Operations
 

20 - ORGANIZATIONS/GOVERNMENT/INTERNATIONAL/Science Liaison Bureau.md

@@ -1,16 +0,0 @@
----
-tags:
-  - Organization
-  - Intelligence
-  - Israel
-category: "Foreign Government"
-summary: "The Science Liaison Bureau, also known as LAKAM, was an Israeli intelligence agency. It was previously known as the Office of Special Tasks and was led by Binyamin Blumberg."
-start: 1957
-end: 1986
-location: "Tel Aviv, Israel"
----
-The Science Liaison Bureau, also known as LAKAM, was an Israeli intelligence agency. It was previously known as the Office of Special Tasks and was led by [[Binyamin Blumberg]]. LAKAM's agents operated worldwide, collecting technical information and setting up front companies in [[Europe]] and [[Latin America]] to purchase high-tech equipment from the [[United States]] that would otherwise not be permitted for export to [[Israel]].[^1]
-
-### Footnotes
-
-[^1]: Hersh, Seymour M. *The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy*. Random House, 1991. Chapter 15.

20 - ORGANIZATIONS/GOVERNMENT/INTERNATIONAL/Unit 8200.md

@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+---
+tags:
+  - Program
+  - IntelligenceOperation
+  - Israel
+category: "Intelligence Operation"
+summary: "Unit 8200 is an Israel Signals Intelligence (Sigint) unit, specializing in code-breaking. It is housed in a base located near a country club north of Tel Aviv, with a nearby building known as 'the villa' belonging to Mossad, where top-secret..."
+start: 1952
+location: "near Tel Aviv, Israel"
+---
+[[Unit 8200]] is an [[Israel|Israeli]] Signals Intelligence (Sigint) unit, specializing in code-breaking. It is housed in a base located near a country club north of [[Tel Aviv]], with a nearby building known as "the villa" belonging to [[Mossad]], where top-secret security meetings were held. The unit operates on a need-to-know basis, with departments requiring special permission to access each other's areas.[^1]
+
+Key personnel mentioned in connection with [[Unit 8200]] include Col. [[Yoel Ben-Porat]] (unit commander, known as Buffy), Lt. Col. [[Sasson Yishaek]] (number-two in code-breaking, later commander), Col. [[Reuben Yirador]] (department commander), and [[Shulamit Ingerman]] (head of the Iranian desk and a cryptographer).[^1]
+
+[[Ari Ben-Menashe]] was stationed in [[Unit 8200]]'s code-breaking department, specifically on the [[Iran|Iranian]] desk, from 1975 to 1977. He claims to have broken the [[Iran|Iranian]] diplomatic code, which allowed [[Israel|Israel]] to read coded messages faster than the [[Iran|Iranians]]. This breakthrough eliminated the need to "acquire" the weekly black book sent by diplomatic pouch to the [[Iran|Iranian]] embassy in [[Ramat Gan]].[^1]
+
+[[Unit 8200]] was involved in monitoring [[Iran|Iranian]] communications through satellite stations in Bet Ella and listening stations in northern [[Israel]], the [[Sinai]], and overseas (e.g., [[Japan]], [[Italy]], [[Ethiopia]]). These stations intercepted traffic from the [[Iran|Iranian]] Foreign Ministry, Royal Court, [[SAVAK]], and [[Iran|Iranian]] military intelligence.[^1]
+
+In 1972, Col. [[Reuben Yirador]] decoded a [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] intercept (VENONA) that revealed the [[Soviet Union|Soviets]] were bugging the office of [[Golda Meir]], then Prime Minister of [[Israel]]. This discovery, along with [[Golda Meir|Meir's]] meeting with [[Leonid Brezhnev]] and her rejection of a peace settlement, informed [[Anwar Sadat]] and may have prompted the 1973 war.[^1]
+
+In 1976, [[Ari Ben-Menashe]], while on duty in [[Unit 8200]], intercepted a telegram detailing [[Lockheed Aircraft Company|Lockheed]] bribes paid to Defense Minister [[Shimon Peres]]. This information was subsequently covered up by superiors, including [[Yoel Ben-Porat|Buffy]] and [[Sasson Yishaek|Lt. Col. Yishaek]].[^1]
+
+### Footnotes
+[^1]: Ben-Menashe, Ari. *Profits of War: Inside the Secret U.S.-Israeli Arms Network*. TrineDay, 1992.