Re'uwen Schiloach
Re'uwen Schiloach ( Hebrew רְאוּבֵן שִׁילוֹחַ* December 20, 1909 in Jerusalem ; † May 10, 1959 ibid.) Was the first director of the Israeli intelligence service Mossad from 1949 to 1952 .
He was named Re'uwen Saslanski ( Hebrew רְאוּבֵן זַסְלַנְסקי) was born as the son of the Orthodox rabbi Aaron Jitzchak Saslanski (Hebrew: אהרן יצחק זסלנסקי) in Jerusalem, later he shortened his last name to Saslani (Hebrew: זסלני) and then took the name Shiloach. At a young age he turned away from the religious orientation of his family. In the 1930s he met the New Yorker Betty Borden , whom he married in 1936.
Schiloach was a close confidante of David Ben Gurion and was active in the intelligence service of the Zionist movement in Palestine even before the state of Israel was founded . Before the Palestine War of 1948, he found out about the military plans of the Arab states and established contacts with secret services in the western world. The founding of the Mossad in December 1949 was largely due to Schiloach's initiative. However, bureaucratic disputes ensured that the Mossad did not actually start working until April 1, 1951. After leaving office in 1952, Re'uwen Schiloach remained an intelligence advisor to the Israeli government and worked at his country's embassy in Washington.
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
|
Director of the Mossad 1949–1952 |
Isser Harel |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Schiloach, Re'uwen |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Shiloah, Reuven; Zlani, Reuven; Zaslanski, Reuven |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Israeli agent, director of the Mossad intelligence service (1951–1952) |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 20, 1909 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Jerusalem |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 10, 1959 |
| Place of death | Jerusalem |