Despite its Hollywood-fueled reputation as a near-mythic intelligence force, Israel’s Mossad has seen a string of high-profile and embarrassing failures—many in countries considered allies. From botched assassinations and diplomatic scandals to espionage plots that backfired, the agency’s record reveals a trail of missteps that have strained Israel’s relations with the very nations it counts as strategic partners.
One of the earliest major scandals came in 1965 with the Apollo affair, in which Mossad attempted to siphon weapons-grade uranium from a U.S. plant in Pennsylvania to bolster Israel’s clandestine nuclear program. The plot was uncovered by the FBI and CIA, and although squashed by the National Security Agency under Zbigniew Brzezinski, it left a long-term mark on U.S.-Israel relations, especially during Jimmy Carter’s presidency.
In 1973, the Lillehammer affair turned tragic and humiliating for the agency. While aiming to eliminate Ali Hassan Salameh—the alleged mastermind behind the Munich Olympics massacre—Mossad agents mistakenly gunned down an innocent Moroccan waiter, Ahmed Bouchiki, in Norway. The fallout saw multiple agents arrested and Israel forced to pay compensation. Notably, Steven Spielberg’s 2005 film Munich, which dramatized the Mossad’s response to the Munich attack, excluded this incident.
Another infamous case was the 1985 Pollard scandal. Mossad had recruited U.S. naval intelligence analyst Jonathan Pollard to smuggle classified materials, which he delivered in suitcases. Pollard was caught and sentenced to life in prison, causing significant friction between the two governments despite their public alliance.
The 1990 assassination of Canadian engineer Gerald Bull in Brussels also raised eyebrows. Though never officially claimed, Mossad was widely suspected in the hit due to Bull’s work on advanced weaponry for Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. The event later featured in a 1994 HBO dramatization, further embedding it in the public consciousness.
Mossad’s reach extended even to neutral Switzerland, where a 1998 operation to bug a suspected Hezbollah operative’s phone lines led to arrests and diplomatic embarrassment. Israel was forced to apologize after Swiss authorities exposed the operation.
In 2004, the agency was again at the center of a diplomatic debacle when two of its operatives were caught attempting to steal the identity of a disabled man in New Zealand to forge fake passports. The agents were linked to organized crime networks, and the incident prompted the New Zealand government to impose diplomatic sanctions and sever high-level ties with Israel temporarily.
The 2010 Ben Zygier case shed further light on Mossad’s internal handling of dual nationals. Zygier, an Australian-Israeli operative, was reportedly arrested and interrogated by Australia’s intelligence service, ASIO. He later died in a maximum-security Israeli prison under mysterious circumstances, labeled a suicide—raising serious concerns over transparency and accountability.
Perhaps most provocatively, a 2019 report revealed that Mossad had planted devices mimicking cellphone towers around the White House in an apparent attempt to spy on senior U.S. officials. Though exposed in the media, the incident was largely downplayed, with no significant public fallout—yet it underscored a recurring theme: Mossad’s willingness to operate aggressively even in allied territories.
While Mossad remains a formidable intelligence agency, these failures reveal a history that often contradicts its mythologized image. The pattern of botched missions, diplomatic crises, and operational errors continues to cast a shadow over its reputation and raises ongoing questions about the costs of covert power, even among friends.
