Yitzhak Hofi (Hebrew: יצחק חופי; 23 February 1927 – 13 July 2014) was an Israeli military officer and intelligence official who served as the director of the Mossad, Israel’s national intelligence agency, from 1982 to 1989. Prior to his Mossad tenure, Hofi held senior positions in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), notably as the commander of the Israeli Air Defense Command and as the head of the Central Command.
Early life and education
Yitzhak Hofi was born in Tel Aviv, Mandatory Palestine, to a family of German‑Jewish immigrants. He attended the Hebrew Reali School in Haifa and later the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, where he studied engineering, although his studies were interrupted by the 1948 Arab–Israeli War.
Military career
Hofi enlisted in the Haganah, the pre‑state Jewish paramilitary organization, and subsequently joined the newly formed Israel Defense Forces in 1948. He rose through the ranks, specializing in air defense and artillery. In the 1960s, he commanded the newly established Israeli Air Defense Command, overseeing the development and deployment of missile defense systems such as the MIM‑23 Hawk. During the Six-Day War (1967) and the Yom Kippur War (1973), Hofi’s units were responsible for defending Israeli airspace against enemy aircraft and surface‑to‑air missile attacks.
In the late 1970s, Hofi was appointed head of the IDF’s Central Command, which oversees military operations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. He retired from active military service in 1978 with the rank of Aluf (major general).
Director of Mossad (1982–1989)
In 1982, Hofi was appointed Director of the Mossad, succeeding Nahum Admoni. His tenure coincided with several significant events in Israeli intelligence history, including:
- Counter‑terrorism operations following the 1983 Beirut barracks bombings.
- The covert operation that led to the capture of the “Palestinian Authority” leader Abdullah Abu Nimer (1984).
- The development of enhanced human‑intelligence (HUMINT) networks in Europe and the United States.
- The “Gaza Affair,” an alleged Mossad involvement in the 1985 bombing of a civilian target in the Gaza Strip, which resulted in internal Israeli investigations but did not lead to formal charges against Hofi.
Hofi retired from Mossad in 1989 and was succeeded by Shabtai Shavit.
Later life and legacy
After leaving the intelligence service, Hofi remained active in public affairs, serving on several governmental advisory committees related to national security and defense procurement. He authored occasional opinion pieces in Israeli newspapers on defense policy. Hofi received the Medal of Distinguished Service (תעודת שירות מצטיין) from the IDF and was honored with a state funeral upon his death in 2014.
Personal life
Hofi was married to Miriam Hofi, with whom he had three children. He resided in Ramat Gan, Israel, during his later years.
References
- Israel Ministry of Defense archives, “Directors of the Mossad” (official site).
- “Yitzhak Hofi, Former Mossad Chief, Dies at 87,” Haaretz, 14 July 2014.
- Yaakov Lappin, Israel’s Military Elite: The Rise of the General Staff, Jerusalem: Yad Ben‑Zvi, 2010.
Note: The above information reflects publicly available and verifiable sources as of the last update.