Wanted: A Few Good (Female) Spies for Israel

Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky

By Dave Goldiner January 4, 2017

No one keeps secrets better than the Mossad, Israel’s famed secret service.

But the spy agency is being very open about its hunt for a new crop of female agents.

“Wanted: Women of strength,” the ads announce in bold font splashed across a woman’s half-obscured visage. “We don’t care what you’ve done, we care about who you are!”

At the official website, applicants are invited to take a shot at jobs in the agency’s operations, intel, staff and technological departments.

It’s the first time the Mossad has made a specific public push for female recruits, according to the Times of Israel. Even without the new cohort, an estimated 40% of its agents are women.

Dave Goldiner is the Forward’s director of digital media. Dave is a veteran journalist who has spent two decades working at newspapers in the United States and Africa. A native New Yorker, Goldiner wrote for the New York Daily News, where he covered some of the biggest stories of our time, including the attacks of September 11, along with thousands of stories of hope and heartbreak. He also studied and worked in Southern Africa and has written for publications in South Africa and Zimbabwe. He holds masters degrees in journalism and public administration from Columbia University. Dave can be reached at [email protected], or follow him on Twitter @davegoldiner