Meir Ben-Shabbat ( he, מאיר בן שבת; born 1966) was Israel's National Security Adviser and Chief of Staff for National Security. He was former head of the Southern Region in the General Security Service. In July 2021, Ben Shabbat announced that he will be stepping down from the National Security Adviser post by late August.

Early life

Ben-Shabbat was born to Aziza and Makhlouf Ben-Shabbat, religious Jews who immigrated from Safi,

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...

. He is the 12th out of 14 children. He grew up in

Dimona Dimona ( he, דִּימוֹנָה, ar, ديمونا) is an Israeli city in the Negev desert, to the south-east of Beersheba and west of the Dead Sea above the Arava valley in the Southern District of Israel. In its population was . The Shi ...

and studied at a state religious school and later at the Bnei Akiva Yeshiva Ohel Shlomo in Beer Sheva. He wrote for a local Dimona newspaper and a number of publications in southern Israel. Upon his enlistment in the IDF, he was assigned to the Givati Brigade. As part of his service he received several medals including the Presidential Medal of Excellence. He holds a bachelor's degree in political science from Bar-Ilan University In 1989 upon completing his army duty, he joined the Shabak and served in various capacities and command positions. His duties included dealing with Hamas in the Gaza Strip during Operation Cast Lead. During his service he served as head of the cyber security department and worked on the prevention of terrorism.

National Security Advisor

In 2017, he began serving as National Security Adviser and Deputy Chief of Staff for National Security in the Prime Minister's Office. As part of his role, he was involved in Israel's fight against

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

Abraham Accords

Ben-Shabbat played a role in establishing ties with Israel and the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia ( The Middle East). It is located at t ...

and

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

as part of the US brokered

Abraham Accords The Abraham Accords are a series of joint normalization statements initially between Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain, effective since September 15, 2020. Mediated by the United States, the initial announcement of August 13, 2020, ...

. In October 2020, he joined US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and other Israeli and American officials on the first official business delegation to the UAE. He led the Israeli delegation to Bahrain.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ben-Shabbat, Meir 1966 births Living people People from Dimona Israeli people of Moroccan-Jewish descent