The Mossad held an event marking 50 years since the Yom Kippur War on Thursday at the agency's headquarters. Among those in attendance were Mossad Director David Barnea, the senior command forum, and agency personnel.
The event opened with a minute of silence in memory of the late Shabtai Shavit, the seventh Director of the Mossad, who passed away earlier this week. Interviews with Shavit were shown, providing a rare glimpse at the contribution of the Mossad before and during the war from his personal perspective.
In his remarks, Mossad Director Barnea referred to the significance and the lessons that were derived from the war, and they are also relevant for our time. He emphasized the importance of dealing with the existential challenges facing the State of Israel: "We must not shirk from dealing with the existential threat facing the State of Israel. The victory in 1967 seemingly removed all doubt as to our ability to continue existing forever. Today we know what our purpose is. Our strategic focus revolves around an existential threat that we will deal with and which we will invest in. We must not make light of the enemy and his capabilities. We must not forget that around us are countries and organizations that are continuing to strengthen in order to threaten our peace here. We must not exaggerate the support of our allies in times of crisis; we will build up our strength and our capabilities. We must not downplay the importance of unity in order to survive. Our strength is in our internal unity." READ MORE
