Kidon
Kidon (Hebrew: כידון, bayonet or "tip of the spear") is the name of a department within Israel's Mossad that is allegedly responsible for the execution of opponents. Kidon is suspected of being behind a number of successful assassination campaigns, such as the Operation Wrath of God campaign. Given the secret nature of the unit, there is almost no reliable information available.
Unconfirmed claims
According to Israeli author Aaron Klein, Kidon was known as Caesarea until a reorganization in the mid-1970s.[1]
The Kidon is described by Yaakov Katz as "an elite group of expert assassins who operate under the Caesarea branch of the espionage organization. Not much is known about this mysterious unit, details of which are some of the most closely guarded secrets in the Israeli intelligence community." The unit only recruits from "former soldiers from the elite IDF special force units".[2]
In addition to counter terrorist operations, the Kidon unit can also operate in other capacities in order to assist the needs of the Mossad.[3]
In popular culture
Kidon is referenced numerous times in the 2001 novel Separation of Power by Vince Flynn as assassins working for the Israeli Mossad.
Kidon is referenced several times in the show NCIS. Kidon is referred to in the NCIS season 6 episode "Legend (Part 2)" when they suspect a Mossad agent visiting the US is part of the Kidon group. In the last episode of the same season, "Aliyah", Officer Ziva David's boyfriend Michael Rivkin is stated to have been a Kidon member. Officer David is shown to be a part of Kidon as well. The director of Mossad, Eli David, has referred to his daughter Officer David as the "sharp end of the spear".
Kidon is also referred to in the Covert Affairs season 1 episode "No Quarter". The protagonist Annie Walker is forced to cooperate with ex-Kidon-turned-Mossad-agent Eyal Lavin when an intel-exchange in Switzerland is compromised.
In the 2012 Chris Ryan novel Killing for the Company SAS operatives Chet Freeman and Luke Mercer come head-to-head with a Kidon operative gone rogue.
In season 2 of the Israeli TV drama Hatufim, a Kidon operative figures heavily in a plot to assassinate a terrorist leader in Syria.
On October 10, 2013 the comedic film Kidon[4] was released starring Tomer Sisley, Kev Adams, and Bar Refaeli, and written and directed by Emmanuel Naccache. The movie features the assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh as told from the perspective of the Mossad.
John Grisham features the Kidon in his novel The Broker as a specialized team of Mossad assassins out to kill the novel's protagonist "Marco".
Kidon is referenced numerous times in the 2013 novel The Enemy, by Tom Wood, as a team from Kidon are after Victor.
Episode 1, "The Empty Chair"[5] of the BBC2/SundanceTV[6] 2014 political thriller, "The Honourable Woman" mentions the Kidon when the character Sir Hugh Haden-Hoyle, fictional head of MI6's Middle East desk is asking who may have assassinated a prominent Palestinian businessman.
See also
- Selective assassination
- Israeli targeted killings
- Duvdevan Unit—Israel's undercover strike unit
- Aman—Israel's military intelligence agency
- Shin Bet—Israel's homeland security/counter intelligence agency
- Special Activities Division—a CIA organization
Notes
- ↑ Klein, Aaron J. Striking Back: The 1972 Munich Olympics Massacre and Israel's Deadly Response. New York: Random House, 2005. ISBN 1-4000-6427-9. pp. 107 & 203.
- ↑ Israel Vs. Iran: The Shadow War, Potomac Books, Inc, 2012, page 91, By Yaakov Katz, Yoaz Hendel
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Kidon movie in IMDb
- ↑ http://www.sundance.tv/series/the-honorable-woman/blog/2014/07/the-honorable-woman-recap-episode-1-the-empty-chair
- ↑ http://www.sundance.tv/series/the-honorable-woman/blog/2014/07/the-honorable-woman-recap-episode-1-the-empty-chair
References
- Frattini, Eric. Mossad, los verdugos del Kidon. Madrid: Atanor Ediciones, 2011. ISBN 978-84-938718-6-4.
- Ostrovsky, Victor. By Way of Deception: The Making and Unmaking of a Mossad Officer. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1990. ISBN 0-9717595-0-2.
- Thomas, Gordon. Robert Maxwell, Israel's Superspy: The Life and Murder of a Media Mogul. New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers, 2002. ISBN 0-7867-1295-3.
