He was a major figure in the Aliyah B institution and worked to bring Jews from Arab countries to Israel. • In addition, he acted in Operation Kadesh in Egypt and led to the release of detainees from the Habish business squad.
Avraham Der Late // Photo Archive: Ancho Ghosh / Ginny
Legendary intelligence man Abraham Der passed away today at the age of 94. Dar began his security career in the Palmach and Palim, became a state intelligence officer as well as a central figure in the Second Aliyah institution that brought the Jews of the Arab countries to Israel. And among his other privileged positions was the establishment and first headquarters of the Jewish network operating in Egypt, which was revealed following its activities in what is now remembered as the shameful business affair.
He founded the Egyptian network in 1951, then he was an intelligence officer in Unit 131, within which he established a spy network in Egypt, whose members he recruited from among the Zionist youth movements, and was the first headquarters. Der enters Egypt with a false identity, named "John Darling" - a British citizen from Gibraltar. The purpose of establishing the squad was to overthrow the regime of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who was hostile to Israel.
In 1956, he was responsible for the liquidation of the Gaza headquarters in the Gaza Strip and as part of Operation Kadesh, he initiated an Israeli intelligence unit to connect with the French forces in Egypt with the aim of releasing the members of the Bish Business Squad. The plan was not implemented because the fighting stopped without the troops arriving in Cairo. "I knew about Israel's cooperation with Britain and France and the prospect of both powers conquering Cairo, where members of the squads were held in prison," he recalls.
"I began to think about how I was going back to Egypt to release them. I knew that if I came to the General Staff with too direct a proposal, I would be thrown out of all the stairs, because Chief of Staff Dayan and the rest of the command did not want to deal with the bans at all. I think Ben-Gurion didn't even know Who are officers in the IDF, "Der said in an interview with Israel today in 2016.
He returned to Israel after Operation Kadesh and was amazed to find that Cairo prisoners were not released as part of the prisoner exchange in 1957. . As a result, he worked diligently to release the sentenced.
At the same time, since 1949, he was a member of the Kfar Yehoshua moshav and engaged in agriculture. From 1960 to 1968 he was director of the development department at Delek and was a member of its management. Since 1971, he served as CEO of the Export Institute. From 1975 he became an industrialist in the fields of exports, development and agriculture. In addition, he owned a medical device company.