Jerusalem: Israeli intelligence agency Mossad executes operations with such precision that not even its targets get any proof of who carried them out. One of its most legendary missions took place in 1966 when the agency stole one of the world’s most powerful weapons from under the noses of nations supplied by the erstwhile Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). The operation was as much about fun as it was about sending a message of fear.

A weapon those days struck fear among the world’s most powerful nations. The Soviet Union had upgraded the MiG-19 fighter jet into a new model known as the MiG-21. The aircraft was supplied to countries like Egypt, Lebanon and Iraq, and Israel viewed its deployment as a threat to its security.

Provoked by repeated threats, Mossad decided that ste

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