THE Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Shimon Peres, yesterday informed his cabinet of the appointment of his military secretary, Maj Gen Danny Yatom, as the new head of the Mossad intelligence agency.
The choice of Gen Yatom (51), who previously served as head of the army's central region command, comes as no surprise. But, when Gen Yatom takes over in several weeks he will become the first Mossad chief ever to be publicly identified while still serving.
Until now Israeli censorship rules have barred publication of the name or picture of the director of the agency which is responsible for covert operations and intelligence gathering abroad. The man currently at the head of the Mossad, for instance, is referred to in the media simply "S" - his first initial.
Last week, however, the daily Ha'aretz defied the military censor when it named Gen Yatom in an editorial as the next Mossad chief. After other newspapers picked up the editorial, an angry Mr Peres retreated from his threat to take legal action against Ha'aretz.
Former Mossad chiefs and senior security officials have argued that exposing the agency's director not only places him in danger, but could also jeopardise operations abroad where he has to be present.
"He moves around the world," said a former Mossad chief, Mr Yitzhak Hofi, "and he has to be protected. He has to get to all types of places to check operations before they are carried out. If he is identified it can destroy the mission. So it's not good for the man at the head of the agency to be well known."
But the Ha'aretz editorial argued that the Mossad chief's identity was known to Israel's enemies and that the censorship regulations were anachronistic. In fact, during a visit by the late prime minister Mr Yitzhak Rabin to Indonesia he introduced the head of Mossad, accompanying him on the journey, to the Indonesian head of state.
In recent months, the media has increasingly challenged the censor. The publication of Gen Yatom's name comes a little over two months after the name of the head of Israel's Shin Bet internal security agency was publicised for the first time.