Ram Ben-Barak (; born 1 April 1958) is an Israeli politician and former member of the Israeli security forces. He served as deputy director of the

Mossad The Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations (), popularly known as Mossad ( , ), is the national intelligence agency of the Israel, State of Israel. It is one of the main entities in the Israeli Intelligence Community, along with M ...

and director general of the Ministry of Intelligence Services and the

Ministry of Strategic Affairs The Ministry of Strategic Affairs and Public Diplomacy (, ''HaMisrad LeNos'im Astrategi'im'') is an Israeli government ministry responsible for leading the campaign of expanding the Abraham Accords and the handling of ties on White House matters ...

. He has served as a member of the

Knesset The Knesset ( , ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Israel. The Knesset passes all laws, elects the President of Israel, president and Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister, approves the Cabinet of Israel, cabinet, and supe ...

for

Yesh Atid Yesh Atid (, ) is a centrist political party in Israel. It was founded in 2012 by former TV journalist Yair Lapid, the son of the former Shinui party politician and Israeli Justice Minister Tommy Lapid. In 2013 the first election it conte ...

since April 2019.

Early life

Barak was born and raised in

Nahalal Nahalal () is a moshav in Northern District (Israel), northern Israel. Covering , it falls under the jurisdiction of the Jezreel Valley Regional Council. In it had a population of . Nahalal is best known for its general layout, as designed by ...

, Israel, to a Jewish family. In 1976 he joined the IDF and served as a combat soldier and as an

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...

in the

Sayeret Matkal Sayeret Matkal () (formerly Unit 269 or Unit 262) (English: General Staff Reconnaissance Unit), is the special reconnaissance unit (''sayeret'') of Israel's General Staff (''matkal''). It is considered one of the premier special forces units of ...

commando A commando is a combatant, or operative of an elite light infantry or special operations force, specially trained for carrying out raids and operating in small teams behind enemy lines. Originally, "a commando" was a type of combat unit, as oppo ...

unit. In his last position he served as commander of the Counter Terrorism Division until his release in 1981.

Career

In 1984 he joined

. In April 1991, he was arrested in

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

along with three other agents of the Mossad, posing as tourists during the operation to install listening devices at the Iranian embassy in

Nicosia Nicosia, also known as Lefkosia and Lefkoşa, is the capital and largest city of Cyprus. It is the southeasternmost of all EU member states' capital cities. Nicosia has been continuously inhabited for over 5,500 years and has been the capi ...

. They were convicted of

trespassing Trespass to land, also called trespass to realty or trespass to real property, or sometimes simply trespass, is a common law tort or a crime that is committed when an individual or the object of an individual intentionally (or, in Australia, ...

, fined and returned to Israel. From 2009 to 2011 he served as deputy head of the Mossad. He was loaned to the IDF and served as coordinator of special operations. He served as an advisor to the Israeli Embassy in Washington and a visiting research fellow at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution. From November 2018 until he entered Israeli politics in April 2019, he was a member of the advisory board of Shibumi, an international business intelligence firm that was founded by veterans from Israel's intelligence community. Additionally, from January 2018 served as the chairman of the board at "Eye-Minders". On 15 January 2018, he announced he was joining the

party and became a member of the Knesset in April 2019. In October 2023, Ben-Barak announced that he would run in Yesh Atid's first leadership primary election, challenging incumbent leader

Yair Lapid Yair Lapid ( ; born 5 November 1963) is an Israeli politician of the centrist Yesh Atid party and a former journalist who has been the Leader of the Opposition (Israel), Leader of the Opposition since January 2023, having previously served in t ...

; on 28 March 2024, however, Ben-Barak lost the election to Lapid by 308 votes to 279.

Personal life

Ben-Barak studied at the National Defense College and political science at the

University of Haifa The University of Haifa (, ) is a public research university located on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. Founded in 1963 as a branch of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the University of Haifa received full academic accreditation as an inde ...

, where he obtained an MA in government and national security. He is married with three children and lives in

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ben-Barak, Ram 1958 births Living people 20th-century Israeli civil servants 20th-century Israeli military personnel 21st-century Israeli civil servants Blue and White (political alliance) politicians Israeli military officers Jewish Israeli politicians Jewish military personnel Members of the 21st Knesset (2019) Members of the 22nd Knesset (2019–2020) Members of the 23rd Knesset (2020–2021) Members of the 24th Knesset (2021–2022) Members of the 25th Knesset (2022–) People from Nahalal People of the Mossad University of Haifa alumni Yesh Atid politicians