JERUSALEM, March 15 (JTA) — Israel’s secretive spy agency can’t seem to stay out of the news. Israeli defense officials rejected as “nonsense” a recent British newspaper report that Mossad agents were involved in another attempted bugging operation of an Islamic militant, this time in London. The Sunday Times of London reported that the incident occurred before Mossad agents were caught while attempting to wiretap an apartment last month in Switzerland. The newspaper said the agents in London fled to Israel after failing to carry out their mission. Meanwhile, the Israeli Cabinet approved the appointment of Ephraim Halevy to serve as the new head of Mossad. Halevy, Israel’s ambassador to the European Union and a former deputy head of the foreign intelligence service, was named to the post earlier this month by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Halevy replaces Danny Yatom, who resigned last month following a series of failed Mossad operations, including a bungled assassination attempt on Hamas political leader Khaled Mashaal in Jordan, and a failed alleged bugging operation in Switzerland. Netanyahu named the Israel Defense Force’s head of northern command, Maj. Gen. Amiram Levine, to be the agency’s deputy director. The British-born Halevy has held a number of positions within the Mossad, including serving as its deputy head. He played a critical role in laying the groundwork for Israel’s peace treaty with Jordan, and his appointment is widely viewed as an attempt to patch up relations with Jordan, which were strained by the Mashaal affair.
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