Standing ovation for Pardo at Sydney JNF Dinner

“MY work schedule … it was 24 hours per day, seven days a week – but that’s the life of any Mossad officer, no matter what rank,” Tamir Pardo, the director of the Mossad from 2011 to 2016, said in his keynote speech at JNF NSW’s annual dinner at Sydney’s Royal Randwick on September 6.

Pardo received a standing ovation from the audience of more than 850 at the event, which raised funds to build a seven-acre “Park of Courage” recreational precinct in the Israeli city of Sderot, situated within one kilometre of Gaza.

He revealed it was two Australian natives who inspired him to be his best in his distinguished career in the Sayeret Matkal special forces unit, and then as an officer and director of Mossad.

“The first person was brigadier general John Monash, who I like to think was one of the best, if not the best, military commanders in the 20th century … and the second was my instructor [at Mossad] who was of Australian origin and made aliyah.”

Pardo recalled when he was director he’d received a call after midnight about a female Mossad officer who went missing during an operation “in a not very friendly country” and was later found by another officer unconscious in her hotel.

“We took a [private] jet and brought her to another hospital where she was unconscious for three weeks, then we brought her husband to see her possibly for the last time, and then her parents.

“She recovered and now she is back at work and is one of the best case officers I’ve ever seen.

“I would say women are the best warriors in the Mossad, because they can do three or four things at the same time at a very high quality.

“15 years ago we had a female deputy director of Mossad, and I think that one day, we will see it [a female director].”

Former US ambassador to Israel, Dan Shapiro, also spoke at the dinner, about the nature of the relationship between his then boss, Barack Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“Like any human relationship, it went through various stages – and the last two years were the toughest – but for most of their time together it was much better than people think,” Shapiro said.

Shapiro added it was Obama who delivered a record 10-year, $38 billion military aid package for Israel and $1.3 billion for Israel’s Iron Dome missile defence system, but acknowledged the two key areas of disagreement between the leaders were the Iran nuclear deal and the issue of West Bank settlements.

Sderot resident, and former Israeli Idol winner Hagit Yaso, concluded the evening by singing Yerushalayim Shel Zahav.

SHANE DESIATNIK