Mossad reportedly tried to recruit French agents during joint Syria operation

Israel’s famed intelligence agency, the Mossad, reportedly tried to infiltrate a French counterpart and recruit double agents from a French spy agency, according to an explosive report by the French daily Le Monde.

In a three-part series on Sunday, the paper published details of an internal report by the General Directorate for Internal Security (DGSI), France’s domestic spy agency, in which it is alleged that agents from both services working on a joint operation launched in 2010 to collect information about Syria’s WMD capabilities, developed unauthorized and inappropriate relationships.

These relationships were uncovered by another French spy agency tasked with keeping tabs on Mossad agents working in Paris, where a Syrian engineer with knowledge of Bashar Assad’s chemical weapons arsenal and ballistic missiles stockpile was brought being worked by the Israelis as an intelligence source.

The engineer also had close ties to the daughter of a senior figure in the Assad regime.

The engineer’s arrival in France, according to Le Monde, came after a two-year effort by the Mossad working with a source in Damascus who convinced the engineer to try new horizons and set up a import-export company in Paris.

An Israeli agent, posing as an Italian businessman, provided the Syrian engineer with business contacts and advice while extracting information, Le Monde reported, as did the French agencies which clandestinely facilitated visa procedures and opened other doors in the business world. The French agents also provided logistical support and surveillance.

Through their joint operation, which spanned several years, the Mossad, the General Directorate for Internal Security and the Directorate-General for External Security (DGSE) uncovered key information pertaining to manufacturers, subcontractors and intermediaries in France and across Europe working with Syria. Intelligence was also gathered on its advanced chemical weapons program.

The information obtained by the Israeli, given to the French and the Germans, led the European Union in 2011 to freeze the assets of the Syrian Center for Scientific Study and Research, responsible for developing and producing chemical weapons.

According to the report, throughout the operation, dubbed “Ratafia,” the Israeli agents took advantage of the close rapport with their French counterparts to try to recruit them, using money and expensive gifts.

One French agent was spotted showing up for Shabbat dinner at the home of the Mossad’s Paris chief, identified in the report by the initials, D.K. Later, that agent did not disclose to his superiors that after an approved trip to Dubai, he made his way to Israel with his family to meet Israeli agents in Jerusalem.

These unauthorized exchanges were uncovered by a branch of the DGSI, the domestic service charged with information security.

After the DGSI filed a complaint with the Mossad in France, the fallout included the revocation of the security clearance of several French agents and their transfer to other positions, as well as the departure of a number of employees working at the Israeli embassy in Paris, including D.K. The two left the Israeli espionage agency and joined the private sector, according to the report.

The former head of the agency, Bernard Squarcini, who led it from 2007 to 2012, is considered a suspect in the case.