03 — DIRECTOR
Danny Yatom
Danny Yatom directed the Mossad from 1996 to 1998. The encyclopedia records him as a director and military figure whose short term publicly includes the 1997 attempt on Khaled Mashal in Amman, an episode that produced a major diplomatic crisis with Jordan.
Evidence Assessment
Term dates (1996–1998) and the 1997 Amman episode within the period.
Internal decision-making is known from published accounts rather than the public record.
Key Facts
- Role:
- Director of the Mossad
- Term:
- 1996–1998
- Predecessor:
- Shabtai Shavit
- Successor:
- Efraim Halevi (1998)
- Period events:
- The Mashal crisis (1997)
A short, crisis-driven term
Yatom's tenure is documented from 1996 to 1998. The chronology records the attempt on Khaled Mashal in Amman in 1997 as triggering a major diplomatic crisis with Jordan and leading to a change of director.
The 1997 Amman episode
The Mashal affair is one of the most consequential publicly documented incidents during Yatom's term. The encyclopedia treats the crisis and its fallout as documented, while internal decision-making remains the subject of published accounts.
Evidence note
The term dates and the crisis chronology are documented; personal direction of the operation is not established by the public preview material.
Related entries
More in Directors
Sources
- Mossad Encyclopedia director record
- Field note: Fourteen Directors, One Institution
- A–Z preview: Yatom, Danny