Nahum Admoni

Nahum Admoni was born in 1929 in Jerusalem

Admoni was born in Jerusalem on November 21, 1929, to parents who immigrated from Poland. His father planned the garden of the King David Hotel and served as the city gardener of Jerusalem under the British Mandate. He studied at the Rehavia Gymnasium.

He joined the Haganah in 1946 and fought in the War of Independence in its intelligence service, the SHAI. He later served in IDF military intelligence and left the army in 1950 as a lieutenant.

He studied international relations at the University of California, Berkeley, where he met his wife Nina, and returned to Israel in 1954. He joined the Mossad and held several posts, and in 1976 became deputy to Director Yitzhak Hofi. In 1982 he was chosen to head the Mossad after the designated director, Yekutiel Adam, was killed in the Lebanon War.

Soon after he took office, the Sabra and Shatila massacre took place. The Kahan Commission found he had not warned the cabinet, but recommended no action against him. His term included the capture of Mordechai Vanunu, Operation Moses and the Pollard affair.

After retiring in 1989, he headed the Mekorot water company until 1994 and later served on company boards. In 2006 Prime Minister Ehud Olmert named him to head a committee on the Second Lebanon War, but it was replaced by the Winograd Commission.