Ex-Mossad chief Efraim Halevy joins controversial Israeli spy firm Black Cube

Former Mossad head Efraim Halevy has joined the controversial Israeli private intelligence company Black Cube, where he will reportedly serve on the board of directors, head the committee to screen potential clients, and act as a senior adviser on operational and intelligence issues.

The company’s website showed Halevy as a member of its advisory board. A source told Yedioth Ahronoth in a report Sunday that he could be elected as president of the company in the future.

The former spymaster spent almost 30 years working for the Israeli intelligence agency. He was a fierce critic of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s opposition to the Iran nuclear deal, some aspects of which, he maintained, could be good for the Jewish state.

Black Cube, which has been described as an “almost privatized wing” of the Mossad, was reported earlier this year to have targeted senior White House officials to gather compromising information that could be used in US President Donald Trump’s decision to exit the 2015 international nuclear accord with Iran, which was negotiated under his predecessor Barack Obama.

Black Cube’s internet homepage (screenshot)

Haaretz reported last month that Black Cube worked to obtain information from Obama administration officials on Iranian assets that could be seized as part of terror lawsuits.

In response to the report, Black Cube told Haaretz it “never discusses its clients with any third party, nor does it confirm or deny any speculation about its work.”

“Black Cube works only to gather evidence in the world’s largest law suits and not on other issues. It should be emphasized that Black Cube always works in accordance with the law, in every country in which it operates, and in accordance with the legal opinion of the world’s leading law firms,” it said.

The company has also been tied to efforts to discredit accusers of disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.

Harvey Weinstein arrives to court in New York on October 11, 2018. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Last November, the New Yorker reported that Weinstein had hired Black Cube for $1.3 million to suppress allegations he sexually assaulted and harassed dozens of women.

The report said an Israeli woman named Stella Penn Pechanac befriended Rose McGowan, an American actress who accuses Weinstein of raping her, claiming to be a women’s rights advocate — and secretly recorded their conversations.

Days later, a Black Cube board member apologized for working with Weinstein, saying the firm would not have assisted the disgraced producer if it had known it was helping suppress sexual assault allegations against him.

Agencies contributed to this report.