Israel's Mossad spy agency on Monday officially launched a campaign aimed at recruiting women of "special character" to serve as operatives.

Advertisements placed in Israeli newspapers and on social media platforms feature black and white images of a woman in the shadows accompanied by the message, "Seeking strong women: it doesn't matter to us what you've done, what matters is who you are".

Ofir Gendelman, the Arabic-language spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has also reportedly called for recruiting operatives from Arab backgrounds.

Israeli Hebrew-language daily Yedioth Ahronoth reported Tuesday that women account for some 40 percent of Mossad's current workforce.