Israel's Mossad ex-agents recount constructing and peddling explosive pagers to Hezbollah militants
In an unprecedented turn of events, Mossad, Israel's spy agency, launched a mind-boggling operation on September 17, 2024, in the midst of a prolonged war with Hezbollah. The operation, dubbed the Pager Plot, was a modern take on the Trojan horse, modeled after the ancient Greek strategy of deceit.
This exquisite deception, orchestrated over nearly a decade, unfolded in stages, starting with the weaponization of walkie-talkies and culminating in the distribution of explosive pagers to unsuspecting Hezbollah fighters. The result? The crippling of Hezbollah, the downfall of the Assad regime in Syria, the weakening of Iran, and the dismantling of their intended target – Hezbollah.
Let's talk turkey with two recently retired senior Mossad agents who spearheaded the operation. To preserve their identities, they agreed to sport masks and have their voices altered. Meet Michael – a seasoned case officer.
Lesley Stahl: So what exactly is a case officer?
Michael: A case officer is the commander, the one who spearheads the operation.
The operation began over a decade ago, not with pagers, but with weaponized walkie-talkies.
Michael: Walkie-talkie was a weapon, just like a bullet or a missile or a mortar.
Fast forward ten years, and Israel didn't activate the walkie-talkies until that fateful September. But how did they ensnare Hezbollah in their intricate web of deception?
Michael: We have an amazing array of capabilities to create foreign companies with no trace back to Israel. A remarkable network of shell companies to affect the supply chain to our advantage. We script and direct our global production with the world as our stage. We're experts in the art of illusion.
This sneaky side of Mossad is on full display at their old office, which bears the motto, "Whatever is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is lacking cannot be counted" (Proverbs 24:6), a not-so-subtle nod to fighting wars through trickery – much like the CIA's "smoke and mirrors."
But walkie-talkies are battlefield gear, so Mossad began developing a new device: a pager.
Gabriel, another agent in the game, took charge of the second phase of the operation in 2022. He found out that Hezbollah was buying pagers from Gold Apollo, a company in Taiwan.
Lesley Stahl: This is the pager that Hezbollah was using – sleek, shiny, and surely small enough to fit in a pocket. What did you do to make it explosive?
Gabriel: To make it explosive, we had to enlarge it slightly, enough to accommodate the explosive device inside. But not too much. We tested the pager in a padded glove to ensure the required grams of explosive to just injure the terrorist, not the person standing next to him.
Gabriel: If we press the button, the only one that will get injured is the terrorist himself. Even if his wife or daughter is next to him, he's the only one that'll be harmed.
Did they test that?
Gabriel: Yes. We tested everything multiple times to minimize damage.
Could you use it as a tracking device? Did it have any intelligence capabilities?
Gabriel: No. This device is almost useless for surveillance. That's why they still use it. There's almost no way to tap it – only receives messages, few grams of explosive.
Mossad cleverly capitalized on these idiosyncrasies, crafting endearing advertisements and brochures to tout the pager's unique features like being robust, dustproof, waterproof, and having long battery life.
Gabriel: We made promotional movies and brochures, and put them online. And sooner or later, it became the best product in the beeper market worldwide.
Was there interest from buyers other than Hezbollah?
Gabriel: Yes. We received requests from potential customers from various places, but we didn't sell to anyone except Hezbollah.
To dupe the Taiwanese into manufacturing the pagers, Mossad set up shell companies, including one in this building in Hungary, to induce the Taiwanese to collaborate with them.
Lesley Stahl: So the company in Taiwan, Gold Apollo, was oblivious to their Mossad connection?
Gabriel: Gold Apollo had no clue they were working with Mossad.
And neither did Hezbollah.
Gabriel: When they bought from us, they didn't have a clue they were buying from Mossad. We created a Truman Show-type world, controlling everything from behind the scenes. In their experience, everything was normal.
To spark the required mayhem, Mossad hired the Gold Apollo saleswoman Hezbollah was familiar with. She emailed Hezbollah, offering them the first batch of pagers as an upgrade "free of charge." By September 2024, Hezbollah had 5,000 pagers in their pockets.
With the stage set, the question arose: when to activate the sleeping bombs? There were hints Hezbollah might be growing suspicious of the devices.
Mossad head Dadi Barnea gave the go-ahead, triggering the attack, shocking the world as it seemed more like a spy movie than reality. On September 17, at 3:30 p.m., pagers started beeping all over Lebanon.
Lesley Stahl: As I understand it, people with these pagers received a message saying, "You have an encrypted message." To access it, you had to push two buttons. Meaning it would explode in their hands if they didn't.
Gabriel: That was the whole point.
Lesley Stahl: So what happened if someone didn't push the two buttons?
Gabriel: The explosive would be triggered anyway.
Lesley Stahl: The explosive was triggered in Israel?
Gabriel: Yes.
The fallout was devastating, with limbs, fingers, blood, and holes in stomachs – a gruesome spectacle. For the most part, the explosions worked as planned, they say. Watch the man on the left – those next to him were unscathed.
The next day, Mossad activated the 10-year-old walkie-talkies, some of which exploded at the funerals of those killed by the pagers. In total, about 30 people died, including two children, and over 3,000 were injured.
Gabriel: The aim wasn't to kill Hezbollah terrorists; if they were dead, they'd just be dead. But if they were wounded, you had to invest money and efforts into their care. And those wounded who had lost limbs, eyes, and lived through the ordeal are walking proof in Lebanon of don't mess with us.
Two days after the pager attack, Hezbollah's commander, Hassan Nasrallah, gave a subdued speech.
Gabriel: If you watch his eyes, he was defeated. He had already lost the war, and his soldiers saw a broken leader. This was the turning point of the war. It's rumored that Nasrallah, while orchestrating the beeper operation, had several people in his bunker who were also holding pagers receiving the message. And in his own eyes, he saw them collapsing.
Lesley Stahl: How do you know that?
Gabriel: It's a strong rumor.
In the ensuing days, the Israeli air force struck targets all across Lebanon, killing over a thousand, many of them civilians. On September 27, they dropped massive bombs on Nasrallah's bunker, assassinating him. Two months later, after more Israeli strikes over Lebanon and civilian casualties, the war between Israel and Hezbollah ended with a ceasefire.
Lesley Stahl: Did you completely decimate and crush Hezbollah?
Gabriel: I think it's a big question, and I think the honest answer would be no. But I think after this turning point in the beeper operation, the walkie-talkie, and the IDF attack, Hezbollah found itself in a difficult situation, with no chain of command, no spirit in their soldiers, asking, begging for a ceasefire.
Lesley Stahl: So you restored your sense of superiority, but what about your moral reputation? Don't you think Israel has to worry about its reputation?
Gabriel: Of course, we have to worry about our morality. But there's a prioritization. First, you have to defend your people, not let them get killed in the thousands. Then you can worry about your reputation.
The pagers had a profound impact, dismantling the Hezbollah empire in Lebanon, toppling the Assad regime in Syria, and weakening Iran. We asked Michael about the implications for Gaza.
Lesley Stahl: How does that affect the situation with Hamas?
Michael: The wind has been taken out of Hezbollah's fight after the pager operation. I hope it'll have an impact on the situation in Gaza as well. Hamas is watching on their side and seeing no one standing next to them – they're completely isolated now.
Lesley Stahl: In terms of the warfare, would you call it psychological warfare?
Michael: The day after the pagers exploded, people were too afraid to turn on their air conditioners in Lebanon because they were scared they'd explode. We aimed to make them feel vulnerable, and they are.
Lesley Stahl: Was that the intention?
Michael: Yes, we wanted them to feel vulnerable, because they are. We can't use the pagers again, because we've already used them. They'll have to keep guessing what the next move will be.
Produced by Shachar Bar-On. Associate producer, Jinsol Jung. Broadcast associate, Aria Ee. Edited by Matthew Lev.
- Lesley StahlOne of America's most recognized and experienced broadcast journalists, Lesley Stahl has been a "60 Minutes" correspondent since 1991.
- The Pager Plot, a modern operation by Mossad, involved the use of explosive pagers in a tactical move, contributing to the downfall of the Assad regime in Syria, the weakening of Iran, and the dismantling of Hezbollah.
- Following the use of weaponized walkie-talkies in the early stages of the operation, Mossad developed a new device – a pager, enlarged slightly to accommodate an explosive device for specific targeting.
- In the realm of general news, it's worth noting the intersection of business, crime-and-justice, and politics, as Mossad successfully capitalized on Hezbollah's reliance on a foreign company, Gold Apollo, for pagers, setting up shell companies to dupe the Taiwanese into manufacturing the explosive devices.
