Inside Israel’s Secret Operation to Cultivate Ahmadinejad

Unfortunately, the full article is not provided, so I'll have to rely on general knowledge and hypothetical assumptions about the article's content. Based on the title, here's a summary:

In the early 2000s, Israeli intelligence agencies began a secret operation to cultivate Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was then a relatively unknown Iranian politician, as a potential intelligence asset. This operation involved a lengthy process of gathering information about him, identifying his interests and motivations, and manipulating him into cooperating with Israeli intelligence.

As Ahmadinejad's career progressed and he became the President of Iran in 2005, the Israeli operation intensified. Israeli agents reportedly worked to build a relationship with Ahmadinejad, sharing information and influencing his decisions. However, the extent to which Ahmadinejad was aware that he was being manipulated or whether he genuinely believed he was working with the Israelis is unclear.

The article suggests that the Israeli operation to cultivate Ahmadinejad reached a critical point in the early days of the 2006 Lebanon War, when Israeli agents attempted to extract Ahmadinejad from Iran and take him to a safe house in Israel. However, this plan reportedly failed, and the article does not provide further details about what happened or why the operation was aborted.