Tahini trouble: Israeli spy sacked for sending agent to buy Palestinian paste

Occupied West Bank mission, called 'Operation Tahini', landed senior officer in hot water

Tahini, a sauce made from sesame seeds, is used as a condiment as well as in dishes such as hummus. Getty Images

A senior Israeli military intelligence officer has been fired after ordering an agent to get tahini, a sesame paste, from an occupied West Bank village as a gift for a military chief.

The mission, which put the undercover agent in danger as most Israelis cannot travel into the occupied territory, resulted in a lieutenant colonel losing his rank.

The revelation was disclosed by an Israeli investigative news channel. The news angered the Israeli military’s chief of staff, sparking an investigation into the scandal.

The operative was successful the first time but was sent back on a second occasion. Each time, the box of tahini was checked for booby traps.

The Israeli military’s leadership acted over fears that the standards of its most secretive units were slipping.

Tahini made in the occupied Palestinian territories is perceived as better than that served across Israel.

Israel’s intelligence services also have a tradition of retrieving products from missions to show guests that they can bring back food undetected.

Palestinian paste from villages in the occupied West Bank is not exported and mainly eaten by locals, but it is believed to have a more authentic taste because of older production methods.

Israel has a large undercover operation in the occupied West Bank, with a special unit dedicated to operatives working in Palestinian areas, such as the one dramatised in the Israel-made Netflix series Fauda, which means chaos.

Those who are able to blend in with Palestinians are part of an elite squad known as the mistaravim.

The agents wear Arab clothing to infiltrate Palestinian villages or demonstrations near checkpoints or settlements declared illegal by most of the international community.

Masked men who are secretly armed can quickly detain the protesters they seek.

But it also poses great risks. Israeli soldiers caught in Palestinian areas have been killed by mobs before because of anger at Israel’s military occupation of Palestinian territory.

In 2000, two Israeli reservists were killed in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah after accidentally entering the city.

The killing was filmed and Palestinians were shown waving from the windows of the police station where the reservists were detained.