Juval Aviv

Juval Aviv (Hebrew: יובל אביב‎‎; born Yuval Aviof;^[1] February 24, 1947), also known as Yuval Aviv, is an Israeli-American security consultant and writer. He may be best known for his work with Mossad, the Israeli intelligence service, and for having conducted the counter-terrorist operation as detailed by George Jonas in his book, Vengeance (1984). Since 2003, Aviv has published four books related to security, two of which address notable mysteries. He writes under the nom-de-plume of Sam Green.

Vengeance was adapted twice as films, which attracted considerable attention to Aviv and his role with Mossad. It was adapted in 1986 as the TV movie Sword of Gideon, directed by Michael Anderson and starring Steven Bauer and Michael York, and featuring Colleen Dewhurst as Prime Minister Golda Meir. The second adaptation was the 2005 feature film Munich, directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Eric Bana, Daniel Craig and Geoffrey Rush.^[1]

Juval Aviv is currently the president of Interfor, a corporate investigations firm in New York City.

Early life and education

Aviv was born in kibbutz Kfar Menachem in 1947 as Yuval Aviof.^[1]

Career

Aviv worked for Mossad while in Israel and took part in international operations during his time there.

The Australian Herald Sun, reporting on a case involving Aviv's investigation of Conrad Black, cited "An Interfor brochure lodged with the court describ[ing] Mr Aviv as a retired major in Israel's Defence Force who had participated in Mossad secret service operations in many countries."^[2]

Aviv is president and CEO of Interfor, an international investigative and intelligence firm, according to the ABA Banking Journal.^[3] He has investigated cases such as the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 for clients US Aviation and Pan American World Airways.^[4]

As a counter terrorism expert, he has been used as a source by publications such as the New York Times^[5] and by news networks Fox News Channel^[6] and ABC News.^[7]

Involvement in Vengeance

In 1981, the Canadian writer George Jonas was approached by Collins Canada about meeting with Juval Aviv, a former Mossad officer who said that he had led Operation Wrath of God, an operation to assassinate the Palestinian terrorists who carried out the 1972 Munich massacre, in which they took hostage and murdered 11 Israeli athletes.^[8] In a joint deal, two Toronto-based publishing houses, Lester & Orpen Dennys and Collins Canada Ltd, commissioned Jonas to research and write Aviv's account.^[8]

From his work he wrote Vengeance (1984), which depicted Aviv's character as "Avner".^[9]

According to Maclean's, which put together an 11-person investigative team to find out whether Aviv's story was true, the book generated $500,000 in advance foreign sales.^[10] After his book was published, Jonas told a journalist for Maclean's that he had spent two years and $30,000 of the publishers' money conducting research with Aviv in Europe and Israel.^[10] American RadioWorks, the national documentary unit of American Public Media, looked into the allegations as well and noted several court documents, including a memo from the FBI from 1982 and an informant agreement between Aviv and the US Justice Department, both of which refer to a past association with Israeli intelligence.^[11]

In 1984, Jonas, Louise Dennys, and the president of Collins Canada, Nicholas Harris, had told Maclean's they were satisfied that the story is genuine.^[10] Jonas told Maclean's: "To my mind, if he [Aviv] is not legit, then he can only be a disgruntled ex-employee of Mossad with sufficient knowledge of what has gone down in this area. As far as I am concerned, if he is not who he says he is, then that is what he is."^[10]

In 1986, the book was adapted as a made-for-television movie, Sword of Gideon, starring Steven Bauer and Michael York.^[12] It was later adapted for Steven Spielberg's Munich (2005).^[13]

The book The Men Who Would Be King: An Almost Epic Tale of Moguls, Movies, and a Company Called DreamWorks by Nicole Laporte, a reporter for Variety, refers to Aviv and his background. Laporte writes about how Steven Spielberg vetted Aviv during pre-production on the movie, Munich (2005). Spielberg assembled a brain trust of researchers and, through his connections at the White House and a Middle East diplomat, determined that, "His real name was Juval Aviv. Furthermore, Spielberg's brain trust discovered FBI files proving that he and his team were not fictitious."^[14]

Interfor report on Lockerbie

Aviv was employed by Pan Am in 1989 to investigate who had bombed Pan Am Flight 103. He says that he "got the information from the horse's mouth, from people who were involved directly and indirectly in the information" when investigating the bombing. In his report, he claimed that US agents had been monitoring a heroin-smuggling route operating from the Middle East to the United States, which was run by a Syrian criminal.

Aviv said that the Syrian had ties to Hezbollah militants, who were holding Westerners as hostages in Beirut. Aviv alleged that US agents agreed to allow the heroin smuggling to continue in return for the Syrian helping to free the hostages. At some point Turkish extremists, who worked at Frankfurt Airport as baggage handlers, swapped a suitcase of heroin for a bomb.

But, the President's Commission on Aviation Security and Terrorism examined the same allegations in 1989 and found "no foundation for speculation in press accounts that U.S. government officials had participated tacitly or otherwise in any supposed operation at Frankurt Airport having anything to do with the sabotage of Flight 103."^[15]

After the Interfor report was released, Aviv was described by diplomatic and intelligence officials as "a fabricator who had lied about his entire background." Later, Aviv stated, "I was never told directly that [my report] was wrong, I was always attacked as the messenger, as somebody who was a fabricator, a lunatic, whatever." American RadioWorks, the national documentary unit of American Public Media, looked into allegations that Aviv had never been employed by the FBI or Mossad. They found that several documents existed, including a memo from the FBI from 1982 and an informant agreement between Aviv and the US Justice Department, which refer to a past association with Israeli intelligence.^[16]

Works

• (2003) The Complete Terrorism Survival Guide: How to Travel, Work and Live in Safety. Juris Publications, ISBN 1-57823-130-2
• (2004) Staying Safe: The Complete Guide to Protecting Yourself, Your Family, and Your Business. Collins, ISBN 0-06-073520-1
• (2006) Max, based on the death of British publisher Robert Maxwell ISBN 1-84413-875-5
• (2008) Flight 103, later published as Flight Into Danger, based on the Lockerbie bombing ISBN 978-0-09-951477-0

References

Further reading