Who was the person who hijacked the Russian Mig 21 plane to Israel?

Iraqi Syriac pilot Munir Redfa, who had two options before him, would either betray his country or die by a bullet from the gun of Mossad agents. Redfa agreed to hijack a Soviet-made Mig-21 fighter jet from the Iraqi Army and deliver it to Israel in exchange for one million dollars, and a massive espionage operation called Operation Diamond took place in the sky.

After years of work, Mossad agents managed to find a pilot to hijack the Mig 21 plane.

In the middle of a small hotel room in Rome, the historical city of Europe, sat a tense man, whose tanned complexion was evident from the Middle East. This man, in his mid-30s, was on the verge of making a very difficult decision, with sweat dripping from his face and his worried gaze scanning every corner of the room.

Captain Munir Redfa (1934 – c. 1998) was an Iraqi fighter pilot. After Qasim's coup, Redfa was one of only five pilots the new regime trusted to continue serving with the sole Iraqi unit operating the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21, 11th Squadron.

Munir Redfa, an Iraqi Assyrian, faced a very difficult election. Not long ago, his wife's older sister's girlfriend had reported that Mossad agents wanted to contact her. As an army officer, Munir knew what that meant. Especially after he came to Rome and agreed to meet with them… He was left with only two options:

He would either betray his country or die by a bullet from the gun of Mossad agents.

While Münir felt this weight all over his body, a pair of eyes were watching him from the room next to him. Mossad Head Meir Amit wanted to personally observe the progress of this mission, which is extremely important for Israel. Moreover, it was even more important that he was here as the highest official when the Mossad agents he had previously assigned had failed twice. Maybe this was the last chance the Mossad got and they needed to use it right.

The hanging of Jean Thomas, an Egyptian-born Armenian working for the Mossad, in Egypt in 1962, after the Egyptian army member Adib Hanna, whom he had contacted, informed the state authorities; The killing of two Iraqi pilots, whom another group tried to contact, by Mossad agents after they turned down "betrayal" offers, jeopardized this meticulously conducted operation. In their meetings with Münir, they should not repeat the mistakes they made in these two unsuccessful attempts.

However, according to the files that came before Amit, Munir was the perfect candidate, unlike the others. While he was the pilot of the Soviet-made Mig-21 they wanted to hijack, he was also facing some obstacles in the army because he was a Christian, which damaged his commitment to the army. Israeli agents continued to negotiate with Munir, while Amit watched them through a peephole. Munir Redfa, realizing the seriousness of the situation, had already accepted Mossad's offer. What was discussed was what Munir would take in the face of this "betrayal".

Ultimately, the price of the most important warplane in the hands of all Arab states, which Israel perceives as a threat, was determined. Munir Redfa would obtain one million dollars by delivering the Mig-21 aircraft, which he would smuggle from the Iraqi Army to Israel. In addition, as a reward for his betrayal, both he and his family, who would be smuggled out of Iraq by Mossad agents, would be given the right to reside in Israel.

All he had to do was go to Iraq, to his headquarters near Kirkuk, and wait for news from the Mossad agents. This unprecedented espionage movement would be launched when the right time for Israel was found when the appropriate environment for the operation to be conducted in secrecy was found.

The Mig 21 aircraft, developed by the Soviets and equipped with the latest technologies, was a rare vehicle that adorned the dreams of all countries at that time. An air unit with Mig 21, which attracted attention with its heavy destructive power and speed, gained a great advantage over its rivals. For this reason, every country wanted to seize this warplane in one way or another, in order to strengthen its army, by establishing close relations with the Soviets or by an international espionage operation like Israel did. Undoubtedly, the head of these countries was the USA, which was the biggest enemy of the Soviets during the cold war. However, none of the US attempts to acquire the Mig 21 were successful. Now, the fledgling country of the Middle East, Israel, had come a long way from any of its rivals.

Of course, the reason why Israel wanted the Mig 21 was much deeper than its desire to strengthen its army by adding it to its air force. Israel always thought that the Arab-Israeli War of 1948 could lead to another war. At the same time, the changing atmosphere in the Middle East, the seizure of power by Jamal Abdunnasır in Egypt, and the coup d'etat by the military, who set an example to Abdunnasır in Baghdad, supported these suspicions of Israel.

Although Israel was advantageous in terms of ammunition in the war that took place in 1948, this time the situation turned in favor of the Arabs. Arab countries, which started to establish good relations with the Soviet Union, were now able to obtain equivalents of the war vehicles Israel bought from Western countries. Maybe for the better… This situation worried Israel more. Although no discourse on the war has yet been put forward, apart from a few political words by the leaders of the Arab countries, Israel had begun preparations. Experienced in the previous war, what a significant advantage the air force provided in war, Israel began to put its pilots through special training. With the clandestine operations of Mossad, a plan for the airfields of Arab countries was drawn up, especially those in Egypt. Israeli pilots, who started to work on the plans obtained, started to rehearse to shoot down the planes that had not yet taken off with a sudden raid.

But just training the pilots was not enough. The French Mirage III aircraft in the hands of Israel were insufficient in terms of destructive power compared to the aircraft of the Arab army. Not wanting to be disadvantaged in a possible air war, Israeli Air Force Commander Ezer Weizman requested an operation to be organized to hijack Mig 21, the pearl of Arab armies, from Mossad Chief Meir Amit: Operation Diamond.

Thus, the Mossad agents started a feverish work. After years of research and mistakes made in the process, he finally found the protagonist of the operation. With the contact of an Iraqi Jew working for Mossad under the code name Yusuf, Israeli agents made a deal with the Iraqi pilot Munir Redfa.

Returning to Iraq, Munir was waiting for news from the Mossad agents, while saying goodbye to his family members who were being expelled from the country. First, Münir's wife and children were sent to Paris, pretending to be on a tourist trip. Later, other family members were taken to Iran, which had good relations with Israel at that time. After the successful completion of the operation, each of these countries would be brought to Israel.

Münir, who was assigned to a base close to Baghdad in the middle of 1966, realized that the expected time was approaching. Shortly after, a female Mossad Agent accompanied Münir to Israel via Paris and introduced him to Ezer Weizman himself. Everything was ready for the operation now. It was only expected that the tank of Munir's plane would be full enough for this long journey.

In August 1966, Munir's plane was filled with enough fuel to travel 900 km for an operation by the Iraqi army. When the opportunity the Israelis were looking for arose, Munir sent word to them, and on August 16, the button for this great espionage act was pressed. It was not difficult for Munir, who took off as if he had taken off from the Iraqi air base, to land the plane in Israel by leaving the route given to him. Although his plane was detected while it was in Jordanian airspace, the Jordanians thought it belonged to a Syrian pilot conducting a drill.

For the Israeli army, a Mig 21 was worth more than $1 million. Munir's plane soon paid off for this value given to him. It was not the conflict that broke out in the Golan Heights before the "6 days" war, where Israeli Mirages managed to shoot down six Mig 21s unharmed. The Israeli Air Force had managed to find its weak points by examining the captured Russian aircraft. Although the Mig 21's destructive power was very high, Israel's maneuverability against French aircraft was very low. Learning of this, the Israeli army organized all air strikes according to this system. The new air formation established by the army gave Israel a great advantage not only in the conflict in the Golan Heights but also in the "6-day" war. This operation, which started with the betrayal of an Iraqi pilot and was carried out with great care, had a great share in the defeat of the Arab states against Israel.