Mossad’s Mysterious Sayanim Network of International Spies

Every country is believed to have a Sayanim network built from the Jewish community. The UK’s most famous Sayan was Robert Maxwell, the British media barron, according to Thomas. The Sayan are not formal agents but lend support on request and assist with activities including gathering intelligence or planting a news story. The network is based on personal relationships, shared cultural and religious ties, and a sense of solidarity with Israel.

Mordechai Vanunu and the Sayanim

After nuclear technician Mordechai Vanunu leaked Israel’s nuclear arms secrets to the London media in 1986, Israel wanted to know where Vanunu was staying. The Sayanim were mobilized. “Scores of trusted Jewish volunteers had each been given lists of hotels and boarding houses to check,” Thomas said.

Once located, Mossad operative Cheryl Bentov famously posed as ‘Cindy’, an American tourist from Florida. She approached Vanunu and later persuaded him to join her on a trip to Rome. Vanunu’s ‘romantic’ weekend in Italy involved being drugged, kidnapped, smuggled onto a commando boat, and transferred to a yacht that brought him to Israel where he was imprisoned.