ISRAEL’S INTELLIGENCE AGENCY MOSSAD PLANS TO HIRE BLOCKCHAIN AND CRYPTOCURRENCY EXPERT

• Avinandan Banerjee
• August 12, 2021

Mossad, the famed Intelligence Agency of Israel, has put out a job listing stating that they are on the lookout for an expert on Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies along with more than three years of experience in the domain of Fintech. According to the job description and the requirements that were posted online, it is evident that the intelligence service is looking for individuals with a profound understanding of the technologies that drive the modern fintech world. However these are not the only requirements. In addition to that, the individual they are looking for must be extremely well versed and an expert on e-commerce, fintech, digital assets, cryptocurrencies and DEF. 

According to the description of the role of the candidate, they expect the individual to be involved in every step of the process including planning, leading, initiating and coordinating with the entire process concerning the development of systems.Reports confirm that there have been speculations before regarding this sudden initiative by the National Intelligence Agency of Israel.

For instance, a news website in Israel which goes by the name of Ynet, reportedly stated that the Intelligence Agency may have been planning to use cryptocurrencies for the payments and transactions they conduct with their agents and operatives on the field for purchasing equipment and other things. They have chosen crypto as their mode of payments owing to the anonymity of the crypto transactions. 

Israel has always been on the forefront of technical advancements. Recently, the country has been showing a growing interest in Bitcoin and other related cryptocurrencies in the market. And much of it is due to the activities of the Hamas militant group, who are basically the ruling authority on the thin strip of Gaza, which is also a self governing region in the confines of Palestine. Many countries around the world have classified the militant group Hamas as nothing more than a terrorist movement. 

The militant group has shifted their attention to Bitcoins when it comes to conducting transactions among their operatives. The thing which is bothering Mossad about this shift to Bitcoins is that the transactions conducted in the form of crypto are anonymous and untraceable, as the technology facilitates, and hence there would not be any problems for the group to raise funds anonymously using various social media platforms. 

As these activities from Hamas continue to happen more frequently, Israel is trying their best to intercept these Hamas operations and thwart their intentions. For instance, last month in July, Benny Ganz, who is the defense minister of Israel, declared an order stating that security agencies in Israel will have complete authority to seize every single crypto account which can be linked to the militant group. 

The order had been given right after the militant group started increasing their efforts in order to raise funds following a destructive and violent confrontation between the two which lasted for eleven straight days. The violent clash resulted in massive destruction of property and lives, while many people were left homeless, injured and dead. 

According to a report from the ICD-ICT from the year 2020, Hamas and their affiliated groups have been busy in raising large sums of money but in the form of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoins and others that are relatively popular in the global crypto market. After conducting several investigations, Israel’s intelligence agency, Mossad has confirmed that the amount of cryptocurrency in the form of Bitcoins, that is in the grasp of Hamas and its affiliates from Iran has reached up to an estimated 3,370 Bitcoin. 

Much to the dismay of the authorities, Hamas and its related affiliates, also known as al-Nasser Salah ad-Deen Brigades, have raised a staggering amount of Bitcoin and they have done it only in the last four years. Even though the security agencies have been alarmed and raiding the crypto space on a global scale in different countries, the supposedly militant group has been able to amass quite a fortune and this is the prime cause of botheration for the officials in Mossad. The amount of Bitcoin they have amassed by now is not a tiny amount and if left unchecked, they just might be able to raise a whole lot more. 

Previous year, it was reported that the militant group was facing an extreme shortage of resources. It is assumed that this is the time they had started gathering funds to make up for the lost resources. According to sources, the Hamas militants had tried to seek assistance from Iran, but they were faced with rejection. In the month of January back in 2020, ICD-ICT reports suggested that there was a sudden and sharp increase in the number of transactions that were taking place across digital wallets that shared connections with the Hamas militants and their affiliates. 

These activities, often carried out in desperation, led to the authorities declaring orders on seizing wallets that have Hamas links. Many believe that with the initiative to bring in a crypto expert, the authorities just might start to strengthen their position further.