Sayanim

Sayanim (Hebrew: סייענים) are Jews who live outside of Israel and often hold citizenships of countries they reside in, but who volunteer or are recruited clandestinely by Mossad to assist with their operations.

The word Sayanim is Hebrew for "assisters" or "collaborators". The term Sayanim itself is plural, with a single one being a Sayan (Hebrew: סייענ).

Former Mossad officer Victor Ostrovsky, wrote extensively about activities of the Sayanim, as has Gordon Thomas. "According Ostrovsky and Gordon Thomas, the sayanim provide assistance of various kinds to Mossad officers operating in foreign countries. This assistance can include facilitating medical care, money, logistics, and even overt intelligence gathering. They can be judges, court clerks, expert witnesses, child protective service workers, Assistant District Attorneys, police officers, or anyone with a great degree of power over people's lives, and will do anything at the behest of Mossad case officers (known as a katsa) for the State of Israel against its enemies or those perceived to be unfavorable politically to Israeli policy." Sayanim are not paid and are only reimbursed for their expenses.

See Also

• Crypto-Jew
• Hasbara