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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

'Object 81': How Iran Destroyed a Hidden Israeli Intelligence Center

2025-10-17

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
by Leonid Tsukanov

Is it all possible? Sure. Probable is a different question, far above my pay grade. But Israel doesn’t seem much hampered, if so, and they do have a tremendous depth of intelligence talent.

[REGNUM] The events of the "12-Day War" between Iran and Israel (June 2025) continue to be in the spotlight. Moreover, new "shocking details" about this military campaign are constantly emerging.

For example, it recently became known that during one of the first missile attacks on Israel, Iran was able to reach a top-secret bunker in Tel Aviv (known as “Object 81”), the existence of which even many Israelis did not know.

We don’t either. There is nothing by that name in the Rantburg archives. Nor is there anything by that name in the Times of Israel archives. Possibly it’s an artifact of translation between Hebrew, English, and Russian.

Moreover, the attack cannot be classified as accidental: Tehran struck too closely, and Tel Aviv reacted too painfully to the attack.

Clearly, the Iranians couldn't have achieved such high accuracy without guidance from the ground. This means there's a mole among the few personnel at Object 81. One who could, moreover, create a lot of problems for the Israeli leadership in the future.

"DA VINCI'S BUNKER"
For a long time, information about the "secret bunker" of Israeli military intelligence (AMAN),

….Israel's Military Intelligence Directorate ….

codenamed "Object 81", in central Tel Aviv was extremely fragmentary.

The "heart" of this special service was believed to be located at the Glilot base in Ramat Hasharon, where the main contingent, including the elite unit "Unit 8200",

…Israel’s military intelligence, also called the Central Collection Unit of the Intelligence Corps

is based, and its main infrastructure is also located there.

Moreover, as AMAN veterans wrote in their memoirs, when conducting operational meetings, military intelligence officers were always inclined to use the bunkers of their "neighbors," primarily the Air Force command, or the general army's underground command post, which made the creation of their own underground infrastructure impractical.

However, during a major modernization of the army's infrastructure in the early 2010s, military intelligence officials suddenly decided to shed their "false modesty" and lobbied for the construction of an additional facility "in one of Tel Aviv's districts" ("Object 81").

The construction was overseen by officers from the US Army Corps of Engineers, brought in by Israeli authorities "to share expertise." They also developed a design for an electromagnetically shielded reconnaissance center with a total area of up to 6,000 square meters. The center was envisioned as a "common asset" and would be used for joint Israeli-American military operations in the Middle East.

FALSE TARGET
Work on "Object 81" was fully completed by early 2020, but its opening, understandably, was held without fanfare. Even its exact location was unknown.

For a long time, it was believed that "Object 81" was located under the Matkal tower, which houses the General Staff and key Israeli military units, or under the Qannarit tower, home to the Air Force and Navy command. The latter theory was considered more likely due to the close, friendly ties between AMAN and the IAF.

The version that military intelligence officers were gathering in Kannarit was actively promoted by the Israelis themselves.

For example, the IDF's press service accounts regularly shared footage from meetings in the Air Force's underground command center in Tel Aviv. The last image from a meeting involving AMAN chief Shlomi Binder was published on June 13—several hours before the Iranian strike on Tel Aviv.

However, as it turned out later, the real cover for the top-secret facility was not "Kannarit," but the high-rise complex "Da Vinci," located on the street of the same name, literally across the street from the tower.

Although Da Vinci is marketed as a business complex with apartments used exclusively for civilian purposes, a closer look reveals numerous connections to Israel's military.

For example, I21 Labs and Perimeter 81, both affiliated with military intelligence, have offices here, as do several consulting companies that work closely with the government and the military.

The complex also had so-called "blind floors" and a closed parking lot, access to which was impossible without special passes.

IRANIAN HINTS
The first hints that the Iranians had gained access to a "high-value facility" in Tel Aviv emerged in the first half of June. Then, Iran's Minister of Information (the agency with intelligence powers), Seyed Ismail Khatib, announced that Iranian intelligence had seized a "massive dossier" on the activities of Israeli intelligence agencies and critical infrastructure facilities.

Although the emphasis was on nuclear issues and the infiltration of Iranian agents into the Israeli state's nuclear plants, the minister also briefly mentioned the discovery of several new, "well-camouflaged" Israeli military facilities in major cities. He also praised the "good work" of his subordinates, who managed to "get as close to the enemy as possible."

Moreover, the day before the launch of Operation Lion Force, Khatib publicly warned Israelis against “rash actions” against Iran, stating that all of Tehran’s secret critical Israeli sites were now “in plain sight.”

At the time, Tel Aviv didn't attach much importance to these statements, dismissing them as a bluff. And, as it later turned out, they were wrong.

Already on the evening of October 13—the second day of the conflict—several Iranian missiles struck the Da Vinci complex. Eyewitnesses recorded at least three impacts, all of which struck the northern part of the complex.

Israeli authorities claimed at the time that the strike was aimed at the army headquarters located to the west, and that the Iranian missiles had simply deviated from their course. However, the launch trajectories, as well as the distances between the three impact points, indicated that the strikes were precisely targeted: the Iranians were aiming specifically at the Da Vinci.

Subsequently, by order of the Israeli government, the area where the facility is located was "blacked out" from all digital maps and satellite services; reinforced posts and plainclothes personnel are permanently stationed in this area. Furthermore, geodata for the Da Vinci complex was removed from digital services, something that was not done for other Israeli civilian buildings damaged in Iranian attacks.

All this suggests that Iranian claims of a successful attack on Object 81 are not far from the truth.

A LONG SILENCE
Despite more than four months having passed since the Iranian strike, the identity of the Iranian informant who acted as the spotter remains shrouded in mystery. Israel not only refused to acknowledge the strike, but also refused to publicly identify the perpetrators.

An attempt by Israeli investigative enthusiasts to look for clues in other spy scandals (for example, the case of two reservists from Kiryat Yam, convicted in January 2025 of collecting classified information at the army headquarters located near the facility) led nowhere and was quickly suppressed by the authorities.

On the other hand, keeping silent about the topic is not the same as the absence of an investigation.

It is known that between June and September, Israeli security forces detained at least a dozen "Iranian agents" operating in Tel Aviv under various pretexts. Four of them were arrested on the day of the attack, several hours after the missiles hit the Da Vinci complex.

Apparently, the investigations are still ongoing, and the silence surrounding the case is likely due to a desire not to inadvertently spook potential organizers of the chain of command. Moreover, due to the high level of secrecy surrounding "Object 81," recruiting someone "off the street" (i.e., without recommendations and patronage from high-ranking officials) would have been simply impossible.

Against this backdrop, rumors are once again circulating in Israel that traces of the Iranian "spy network" extend to the very top, to the capital's command centers. The gossip is being actively fueled by Iranian bloggers close to the Iranian secret services, who are promoting the idea that Tehran has succeeded in recruiting "real Zionists" and planting its people in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's inner circle.

Although this is most likely part of an Iranian game designed to confuse the investigation, the Israelis are not discounting the theory of moles in the highest echelons of power.

Moreover, after the prime minister initiated purges in the intelligence services, he has acquired many opponents and ill-wishers who are just waiting for the right moment to play their information trump card and force Netanyahu to justify himself to the public once again.

Posted by:badanov

#1 comments); ?>werwer

Posted by: Grom the Affective 2025-10-17 01:29

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