Agents of Israel’s Mossad Intelligence Agency operated far from Israel’s borders on numerous occasions towards freeing agunos, Kippa reports.

Former Rishon L’Tzion Rabbi Shlomo Moshe Amar turned to the Mossad for assistance towards freeing agunos. One of the cases involving the Mossad relates to an incident that occurred 20 years earlier, as Jews tried fleeing enemy nations heading to the West. They never made it and it assumed they were killed by terrorists.

One of the agunos from these men lives in Israel and she turned to Rabbi Amar for assistance in getting on with her life. The information in the case indicates in all likelihood, the man in question had been murdered by terrorists. However, that information was based on senior officials in the country involved, but Rabbi Amar ruled it was insufficient for a halachic ruling and he was unwilling to accept the testimony from the non-Jewish sources, leading to his request for assistance from the Mossad.

The rav explains he personally sat with the Mossad officials and explained what was needed and how to go about it. He was told they have agents in a large prominent European country that would be able to obtain first hand information from government sources. The rav explained this too would leave him with testimony from non-Jews, which would not resolve the dilemma. The rav explained the testimony of a non-Jew could be used משיח לפי תומו, meaning to say it was obtained indirectly and not as testimony.

Three months from the date of their meeting, Mossad officials presented Rabbi Amar with a report which contained information pertaining to the deaths of a number of Jews, including the husband of the woman in question. The rav added that in one of the cases the Mossad was unable to provide the information necessary, which for him just reaffirmed the reliability of the agency’s information.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)