The Israel Security Agency (ISA; he, שֵׁירוּת הַבִּיטָּחוֹן הַכְּלָלִי; ''Sherut ha-Bitaẖon haKlali''; "the General Security Service"; ar, جهاز الأمن العام), better known by the
acronym
An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...
Shabak ( he, שב״כ; ; ar, شاباك) or the Shin Bet (a two-letter Hebrew abbreviation of "Security Service"), is
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
's internal
security service. Its
motto
A motto (derived from the Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of an individual, family, social group, or organisation. Mot ...
is "''Magen veLo Yera'e''" (, lit. "Shield and not seen" or "The unseen shield"). The Shin Bet's headquarters are located in northwest
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...
, north of
Yarkon Park
Yarkon Park ( he, פארק הירקון, ''Park HaYarkon'') is a large park in Tel Aviv, Israel, with about sixteen million visits annually. Named after the Yarkon River which flows through it, the park includes extensive lawns, sports faciliti ...
.
It is one of three principal organizations of the
Israeli intelligence community
The Israeli Intelligence Community is made up of Aman (military intelligence), Mossad (overseas intelligence) and Shabak (internal security).
Current agencies
* Military Intelligence Directorate (Aman): the supreme military-intelligence bran ...
, alongside
Aman
Aman may refer to:Poli
People First names
* Aman Hambleton (born 1992), Canadian chess grandmaster
* Aman Hayer (born 1979), Bhangra musician
* Aman Verma (actor) (born 1971), Indian actor
Surnames
* Mohammed Aman (born 1994), Ethiopian midd ...
(
military intelligence
Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist commanders in their decisions. This aim is achieved by providing an assessment of data from a ...
) and
Mossad
Mossad ( , ), ; ar, الموساد, al-Mōsād, ; , short for ( he, המוסד למודיעין ולתפקידים מיוחדים, links=no), meaning 'Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations'. is the national intelligence agency ...
(foreign intelligence service).
Organization
Shabak is believed to have three operational wings:
*The Arab Department: responsible primarily for Arab-related
counterterrorism
Counterterrorism (also spelled counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, incorporates the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that Government, governments, law enforcement, business, and Intelligence agency, intellig ...
activities in Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip.
*The Israel and Foreigners Department: formerly named the Non-Arab Affairs Department. It includes the Department for Counter-intelligence and Prevention of Subversion in the Jewish Sector, also known as the "Jewish Department". It is responsible for preventing espionage, and for dealing with extremists who carry out actions (such as terrorism) against the state and the
democratic regime
Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which people, the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation ("direct democracy"), or to choo ...
. As its original concerns mostly related to the
Communist Bloc
The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...
, it shrank after the
fall of the Soviet Union
The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...
, but rose again in importance in response to Jewish terrorist activity beginning in the early 80s.
*The Protective Security Department: responsible for protecting high-value individuals and locations in the country such as government officials, embassies, airports, and research facilities.
Although a security agency, it is not a part of the
Israeli Ministry of Defense
The Ministry of Defense ( he, מִשְׂרַד הַבִּטָּחוֹן, Misrad HaBitahon, Ministry of Security, acronym: he, משהב"ט) of the government of Israel, is the governmental department responsible for defending the State of Isra ...
, and its chief answers directly to the
Prime Minister of Israel
The prime minister of Israel ( he, רֹאשׁ הַמֶּמְשָׁלָה, Rosh HaMemshala, Head of the Government, Hebrew acronym: he2, רה״מ; ar, رئيس الحكومة, ''Ra'īs al-Ḥukūma'') is the head of government and chief exec ...
.
Duties and roles
Shabak's duties are safeguarding state security, exposing
terrorist
Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...
rings, interrogating terror suspects, providing
intelligence
Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. More generally, it can b ...
for
counter-terrorism
Counterterrorism (also spelled counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, incorporates the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, business, and intelligence agencies use to combat or el ...
operations in the
West Bank
The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
and the
Gaza Strip
The Gaza Strip (;The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza.. ...
,
counter-espionage
Counterintelligence is an activity aimed at protecting an agency's intelligence program from an opposition's intelligence service. It includes gathering information and conducting activities to prevent espionage, sabotage, assassinations or o ...
, personal protection of senior public officials, securing important infrastructure and government buildings, and safeguarding Israeli airlines and overseas
embassies
A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually deno ...
.
History
With the
Israeli declaration of independence
The Israeli Declaration of Independence, formally the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel ( he, הכרזה על הקמת מדינת ישראל), was proclaimed on 14 May 1948 ( 5 Iyar 5708) by David Ben-Gurion, the Executive ...
in 1948, the Shabak was founded as a branch of the Israel Defense Forces and was initially headed by
Isser Harel
Isser Harel ( he, איסר הראל, 1912 – 18 February 2003) was spymaster of the intelligence and the security services of Israel and the Director of the Mossad (1952–1963). In his capacity as Mossad director he oversaw the capture and co ...
(the father of Israeli Intelligence, who later headed the
Mossad
Mossad ( , ), ; ar, الموساد, al-Mōsād, ; , short for ( he, המוסד למודיעין ולתפקידים מיוחדים, links=no), meaning 'Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations'. is the national intelligence agency ...
). Responsibility for Shabak activity was later moved from the IDF to the office of the prime minister. During the
1948 Arab–Israeli war
The 1948 (or First) Arab–Israeli War was the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war. It formally began following the end of the British Mandate for Palestine at midnight on 14 May 1948; the Israeli Declaration of Independence had ...
, Shabak's responsibilities included only internal security affairs. In February 1949 (a short while before the end of the war), its responsibilities were extended to counter-espionage.
One of the Shabak's leading successes was obtaining a copy of the
secret speech
"On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences" (russian: «О культе личности и его последствиях», «''O kul'te lichnosti i yego posledstviyakh''»), popularly known as the "Secret Speech" (russian: секре ...
made by
Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and chairman of the country's Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. During his rule, Khrushchev s ...
in 1956, in which he denounced Stalin. A Polish edition of the speech was provided to the Israeli embassy in
Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
by the boyfriend of the secretary of a Polish communist official. The Shabak's Polish liaison officer conveyed the copy to Israel. The Israeli government then decided to share the information with the United States, which published it with Israeli approval.
On the other hand, a study published in 2013 by Matitiahu Mayzel casts doubt on the story, arguing that the speech was not secret and that it was conveyed to the West by multiple sources, including Soviet political and intelligence agencies.
A notable achievement in counter-espionage was the 1961 capture of
Israel Beer
Israel Beer (sometimes spelled Yisrael Bar, 9 October 1912 – 1 May 1966) was an Austrian-born Israeli citizen convicted of espionage. On March 31, 1961, Beer, a senior employee in the Israeli Ministry of Defense, was arrested under suspicio ...
, who was revealed to be a Soviet
spy
Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangib ...
. Beer was a
Lieutenant Colonel
Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...
in the reserves, a senior security commentator and close friend of Ben-Gurion and reached high Israeli circles. Beer was tried and sentenced to ten years in prison (later extended by the Supreme Court to fifteen years, following his appeal), where he died. A year before,
Kurt Sitte, a
Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
German from the
Sudetenland
The Sudetenland ( , ; Czech and sk, Sudety) is the historical German name for the northern, southern, and western areas of former Czechoslovakia which were inhabited primarily by Sudeten Germans. These German speakers had predominated in the ...
and a
professor
Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...
in the
Technion, was revealed as a
Czechoslovakia
, rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי,
, common_name = Czechoslovakia
, life_span = 1918–19391945–1992
, p1 = Austria-Hungary
, image_p1 ...
n spy.
![Shabak Medal 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/09/Shabak_Medal_2.JPG)
In 1967, an Egyptian-Israeli double agent, Rif'at al Gamal/Jacques Bitton, gave Egypt false information about Israel's battle plans, claiming it would begin with ground operations. The Egyptians thus left their aircraft on open runways, which enabled the
Israel Air Force
The Israeli Air Force (IAF; he, זְרוֹעַ הָאֲוִיר וְהֶחָלָל, Zroa HaAvir VeHahalal, tl, "Air and Space Arm", commonly known as , ''Kheil HaAvir'', "Air Corps") operates as the aerial warfare branch of the Israel Defense ...
to
knock out
A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...
Egypt's air force within three hours of the outbreak of the
Six-Day War
The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states (primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, S ...
.
Operation Yated, as it was later known, is considered one of the most successful deceptions in Israeli intelligence history, on a par with Britain's
Operation Mincemeat
Operation Mincemeat was a successful British deception operation of the Second World War to disguise the 1943 Allied invasion of Sicily. Two members of British intelligence obtained the body of Glyndwr Michael, a tramp who died from eating r ...
during World War II.
After the war, monitoring terrorist activity in the
West Bank
The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
and
Gaza Strip
The Gaza Strip (;The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza.. ...
became a major part of Shabak's mission. During 1984–1986, Shabak experienced a major crisis following the
Kav 300 affair
The Bus 300 affair (), also known as Kav 300 affair, was a 1984 incident in which Shin Bet members executed two Palestinian bus hijackers, immediately after the hostage crisis incident ended and they had been captured.
After the incident, the Sh ...
in which four Palestinian militants hijacked a bus. Two of the hijackers were killed in the ensuing standoff and the other two were killed shortly after being taken into custody by Shabak officers, who later covered up the event and conspired to frame a senior
IDF
IDF or idf may refer to:
Defence forces
* Irish Defence Forces
* Israel Defense Forces
*Iceland Defense Force, of the US Armed Forces, 1951-2006
* Indian Defence Force, a part-time force, 1917
Organizations
* Israeli Diving Federation
* Interac ...
officer. Following the affair, Shabak head
Avraham Shalom Avraham Shalom Bendor ( he, אַבְרָהָם שָׁלוֹם בֵּנְדּוֹר; 7 July 1928 – 19 June 2014) was head of Shin Bet from 1981 to 1986.[Landau Commission Moshe Landau
The Landau Commission was a three-man Commission set up by the Israeli Government in 1987 following a long-running scandal over the deaths of two Palestinian prisoners in custody and the wrongful conviction of a Circassian IDF office ...]
, set up to investigate Shabak interrogation methods, criticized the organization and established guidelines to regulate what forms of physical pressure could be used on prisoners. Among the practices authorised were "keeping prisoners in excruciatingly uncomfortable postures, covering their heads with filthy and malodorous sacks and depriving them of sleep." Human rights groups in Israel maintained that this amounts to
torture
Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. Some definitions are restricted to acts c ...
.
[Israel admits torture]
9 February 2000, BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
A 1995 official report by
Miriam Ben-Porat
Miriam Ben-Porat ( he, מרים בן פורת, née Shinezon, 26 April 1918 – 26 July 2012) was an Israeli jurist. She was the first woman appointed to the Supreme Court of Israel and the State Comptroller of Israel from 1988–1998.
Biography
...
, made public in 2000, showed that Shin Bet "routinely" went beyond the "moderate physical pressure" authorised by the Landau Commission. In the report, Israel admitted for the first time that Palestinian detainees were tortured during the
First Intifada
The First Intifada, or First Palestinian Intifada (also known simply as the intifada or intifadah),The word ''intifada'' () is an Arabic word meaning "uprising". Its strict Arabic transliteration is '. was a sustained series of Palestinian ...
, between 1988 and 1992.
In 1995, the Shin Bet failed to protect the Israeli prime minister,
Yitzhak Rabin
Yitzhak Rabin (; he, יִצְחָק רַבִּין, ; 1 March 1922 – 4 November 1995) was an Israeli politician, statesman and general. He was the fifth Prime Minister of Israel, serving two terms in office, 1974–77, and from 1992 until h ...
, who was
assassinated
Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have a ...
by right-wing Israeli radical
Yigal Amir
Yigal Amir ( he, יגאל עמיר; born May 31, 1970) is an Israeli right-wing extremist who assassinated former Prime Minister of Israel, Yitzhak Rabin. At the time of the assassination he was a law student at Bar-Ilan University. The assassi ...
. Shin Bet had discovered Amir's plans, and a Shin Bet agent was sent to monitor Amir, and reported that Amir was not a threat. Following the assassination, the Shabak director,
Carmi Gillon
Carmi Gillon (born January 1950) ( he, כרמי גילון) is an Israeli politician and a former Israeli ambassador to Denmark and head of Shin Bet, Shabak, the internal General Security Service (GSS; Israeli Security Agency, ISA) of Israel.
Aft ...
, resigned preemptively. Later, the
Shamgar Commission
The Shamgar commission was the official Commission of Inquiry set up to investigate the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in late 1995. Its objective was to investigate the chain of events leading up to the assassination, and th ...
pointed to serious flaws in the personal security unit. Another source of embarrassment and criticism was the violent, provocative and inciting behavior of
Avishai Raviv
Avishai Raviv (born 8 June 1967, he, אבישי רביב) is a former agent of Israel's Shin Bet (Shabak), Israel's domestic intelligence service, whose mission was to monitor the activities of right-wing extremists. His code name was 'Champagne ...
, an
informer
An informant (also called an informer or, as a slang term, a “snitch”) is a person who provides privileged information about a person or organization to an agency. The term is usually used within the law-enforcement world, where informan ...
of the Shabak's Jewish Unit during the time leading up to the assassination. Later, Raviv was acquitted of the charges that he encouraged
Yigal Amir
Yigal Amir ( he, יגאל עמיר; born May 31, 1970) is an Israeli right-wing extremist who assassinated former Prime Minister of Israel, Yitzhak Rabin. At the time of the assassination he was a law student at Bar-Ilan University. The assassi ...
to kill Yitzhak Rabin.
A few months after the Rabin assassination, Hamas chief bombmaker
Yahya Ayyash
Yahya Abd-al-Latif Ayyash ( ar, يحيى عياش) (6 March 1966 – 5 January 1996) was the chief bombmaker of Hamas and the leader of the West Bank battalion of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades. In that capacity, he earned the nickname ''the E ...
was assassinated in a
targeted killing
Targeted killing is a form of murder or assassination carried out by governments outside a judicial procedure or a battlefield.
Since the late 20th century, the legal status of targeted killing has become a subject of contention within and betw ...
in which an explosive device was planted in his
cellular phone
A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whil ...
.
Gillon was replaced by
Israeli Navy
The Israeli Navy ( he, חיל הים הישראלי, ''Ḥeil HaYam HaYisraeli'' (English: The Israeli Sea Corps); ar, البحرية الإسرائيلية) is the naval warfare service arm of the Israel Defense Forces, operating primarily in ...
admiral
Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...
Ami Ayalon
Ami Ayalon ( he, עמיחי "עמי" איילון, born 27 June 1945) is an Israeli politician and a former member of the Knesset for the Labor Party. He was previously head of the Shin Bet, Israel's secret service, and commander-in-chief of the ...
, who helped to restore the organizational
morale
Morale, also known as esprit de corps (), is the capacity of a group's members to maintain belief in an institution or goal, particularly in the face of opposition or hardship. Morale is often referenced by authority figures as a generic value ...
, after the debacle of the Rabin assassination, and to rehabilitate its public image.
In 2000, Ayalon was replaced by
Avi Dichter
Avi Dichter ( he, אָבִי דִּיכְטֶר, ; born 14 December 1952) is an Israeli politician. A former Minister of Internal Security and Shin Bet director, he resigned from the Knesset and left Kadima in August 2012 in order to become Mi ...
, an ex-
Sayeret Matkal
General Staff Reconnaissance Unit (formerly Unit 269 or Unit 262), more commonly known as Sayeret Matkal ( he, סיירת מטכ״ל) is the special reconnaissance unit (''sayeret'') of Israel's General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, General ...
commando
Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin">40_Commando.html" ;"title="Royal Marines from 40 Commando">Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin area of Afghanistan are pictured
A commando is a combatant, or operativ ...
and experienced Shabak agent, who tightened the working relationship with the Israel Defense Forces and
Israeli police
The Israel Police ( he, משטרת ישראל, ''Mišteret Yisra'el''; ar, شرطة إسرائيل, ''Shurtat Isrāʼīl'') is the civilian police force of Israel. As with most other police forces in the world, its duties include crime fightin ...
. Dichter was in charge when the
al-Aqsa Intifada
The Second Intifada ( ar, الانتفاضة الثانية, ; he, האינתיפאדה השנייה, ), also known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada ( ar, انتفاضة الأقصى, label=none, '), was a major Palestinian uprising against Israel. ...
erupted. He turned Shabak into a prominent player in the war on terrorism after the collapse of the
2000 Camp David Summit
The 2000 Camp David Summit was a summit meeting at Camp David between United States president Bill Clinton, Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian Authority chairman Yasser Arafat. The summit took place between 11 and 25 July 2000 a ...
.
In November 2003, four former heads of Shabak (
Avraham Shalom Avraham Shalom Bendor ( he, אַבְרָהָם שָׁלוֹם בֵּנְדּוֹר; 7 July 1928 – 19 June 2014) was head of Shin Bet from 1981 to 1986.[Yaakov Peri
Ya'akov Peri ( he, יעקב פרי, born 20 February 1944) is a former head of the Israeli security agency Shin Bet and formerly a member of the Knesset for Yesh Atid. He headed Shin Bet between 1988 and 1994. He was the first Shin Bet head born ...]
, Carmi Gillon and Ami Ayalon) called upon the Government of Israel to reach a peace agreement with the Palestinians.
In May 2005, Dichter was replaced by
Yuval Diskin
Yuval Diskin ( he, יובל דיסקין; born June 11, 1956) was the 12th Director of the Israeli Internal Security Service Shabak (frequently referred to in English as the "Shin Bet") from 2005 to 2011. He was appointed by Prime Minister Ariel ...
, who served until 2011.
In 2011,
Yoram Cohen
Yoram Cohen ( he, יורם כהן; born 1960) is a retired Israeli security person who served as the Director of Shin Bet, from May 15, 2011 until May 8, 2016, when he was replaced by Nadav Argaman.
Biography
Cohen was born in Israel to Moshe a ...
was chosen as the new head of Shabak, and served until 2016.
In 2016,
Nadav Argaman was chosen as the new head of Shabak, and assumed office on 8 May 2016.
On 11 October 2021,
Ronen Bar
Ronen Bar is the director of Shin Bet since 13 October 2021. He previously served as deputy head of Shin Bet. Bar was appointed by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and his nomination was approved by Israel's cabinet on 11 October 2021. He assumed of ...
was announced as the next head of the ISA,
and took office on 13 October.
Accountability
Former Shin Bet director special assistant Barak Ben-Zur said that since 1948 (or more particularly 1957) the group has been brought under the control of the Knesset in order to monitor its budget. In May 2002, Shin Bet was brought under the purview of the Knesset Foreign and Security Committee, which could investigate whether it is working within legal boundaries which, in turn, involves the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee. The government legal adviser approves Shin Bet activities while the Political-Security Cabinet receives reports directly from the Shin Bet director and ensures that every detainee has the right to submit a complaint.
Information gathering, interrogation methods and torture
Shabak also extracts information by
interrogating
Interrogation (also called questioning) is interviewing as commonly employed by law enforcement officers, military personnel, intelligence agencies, organized crime syndicates, and terrorist organizations with the goal of eliciting useful informa ...
suspects, and there is a history of concern over its methods. In 1987, after complaints about excessive use of violence, the
Landau Commission Moshe Landau
The Landau Commission was a three-man Commission set up by the Israeli Government in 1987 following a long-running scandal over the deaths of two Palestinian prisoners in custody and the wrongful conviction of a Circassian IDF office ...
drew up guidelines condoning "moderate physical pressure" when necessary, but in 1994, State Comptroller
Miriam Ben-Porat
Miriam Ben-Porat ( he, מרים בן פורת, née Shinezon, 26 April 1918 – 26 July 2012) was an Israeli jurist. She was the first woman appointed to the Supreme Court of Israel and the State Comptroller of Israel from 1988–1998.
Biography
...
found that these regulations were violated and senior GSS commanders did not prevent it.
Later, in 1999, the
Israeli Supreme Court
The Supreme Court (, ''Beit HaMishpat HaElyon''; ar, المحكمة العليا) is the Supreme court, highest court in Israel. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all other courts, and in some cases original jurisdiction.
The Supreme C ...
heard several petitions against Shabak methods, including (1) "forceful and repeated shaking of the suspect's upper torso, in a manner which causes the neck and head to swing rapidly," (2) manacling of the suspect in a painful "Shabach position" for a long period of time, (3) the "frog crouch" consisting of "consecutive, periodical crouches on the tips of one's toes," and other methods. The Court ruled that Shabak did not have the authority, even under the defense of "necessity," to employ such methods. This ruling was hailed as landmark against using torture on Palestinian prisoners.
Shabak claims it now uses only psychological means, although
B'Tselem
B'Tselem ( he, בצלם, , " in the image of od) is a Jerusalem-based non-profit organization whose stated goals are to document human rights violations in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories, combat any denial of the existence of su ...
and
Amnesty International
Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...
continue to accuse Shabak of employing physical methods that amount to torture under international conventions. In 2015,
Physicians for Human Rights–Israel
Physicians for Human Rights–Israel (PHR-I or PHR-IL; ) is a non-governmental, non-profit, human rights organization based in Jaffa. Physicians for Human Rights–Israel was founded in 1988 with the goal of promoting "a just society where the ...
noted that petitions against Shin Bet had quadrupled since 2012, and claimed that over the past several years of 850 complaints against Shin Bet for torture none had yet been investigated. It further claimed that no system of legal redress against security organizations is in place.
Shabak has also worked closely with the
Israeli Air Force
The Israeli Air Force (IAF; he, זְרוֹעַ הָאֲוִיר וְהֶחָלָל, Zroa HaAvir VeHahalal, tl, "Air and Space Arm", commonly known as , ''Kheil HaAvir'', "Air Corps") operates as the aerial warfare branch of the Israel Defense ...
in "
targeted killings
Targeted killing is a form of murder or assassination carried out by governments outside a judicial procedure or a battlefield.
Since the late 20th century, the legal status of targeted killing has become a subject of contention within and be ...
" of field commanders and senior leaders of Palestinian militant factions of
Hamas
Hamas (, ; , ; an acronym of , "Islamic Resistance Movement") is a Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist, militant, and nationalist organization. It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Bri ...
, the
Islamic Jihad, the
Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades
The al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades () is a coalition of Palestinian armed groups in the West Bank. The organization has been designated as a terrorist organization by Israel, the European Union, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, and the United States.
L ...
, and
Fatah
Fatah ( ar, فتح '), formerly the Palestinian National Liberation Movement, is a Palestinian nationalist social democratic political party and the largest faction of the confederated multi-party Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and ...
. These killings are usually done by
helicopter gunship
A gunship is a military aircraft armed with heavy aircraft guns, primarily intended for attacking ground targets either as airstrike or as close air support.
In modern usage the term "gunship" refers to fixed-wing aircraft having laterally-mo ...
s. Both the IAF commanders and Shabak agents sit together in the command center to monitor the operations. Shabak's task is to give intelligence about when and where the target will be available for a strike and then react to IAF
drone
Drone most commonly refers to:
* Drone (bee), a male bee, from an unfertilized egg
* Unmanned aerial vehicle
* Unmanned surface vehicle, watercraft
* Unmanned underwater vehicle or underwater drone
Drone, drones or The Drones may also refer to:
...
feedback to ensure the men at the location are indeed the correct targets.
Detentions
Salah Haj Yihyeh, a Palestinian who runs mobile clinics for
Physicians for Human Rights
Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) is a US-based not-for-profit human rights NGO that uses medicine and science to document and advocate against mass atrocities and severe human rights violations around the world. PHR headquarters are in New Y ...
, was detained for questioning by the Shin Bet. In the questioning, Yihyeh answered questions about the activities of the organization, its budget, the identity of its donors, and details about others employed by PHR. The board of Physicians for Human Rights, in a letter to Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin, rejected the "crossing of a red line in a democracy." The letter argued that since the only cause for calling an employee of the group was to scare him, the tactics were unacceptable and illegal.
Palestinian journalist
Mohammed Omer was detained in July 2008 by Shin Bet. Having arrived on a flight from London, Omer says that he was taken aside by a Shin Bet official. According to ''
Democracy Now!
''Democracy Now!'' is an hour-long American TV, radio, and Internet news program hosted by journalists Amy Goodman (who also acts as the show's executive producer), Juan González, and Nermeen Shaikh. The show, which airs live each weekday at ...
'', Omer was later questioned, strip-searched, and then beaten by eight armed Shin Bet officers. Injuries from the ordeal allegedly left Mohammed Omer in the hospital for a week. The Israeli government rejected Omer's claims outright, citing inconsistencies in his allegations and noting that such investigations are strictly regulated.
Visibility
Once considered a commitment to lifelong anonymity and even invisibility in Israeli society, today a Shabak agent who achieves high rank in the service, especially the director, is considered a candidate for membership in the top units of the Israeli government and business community. This process follows a trend started by ex-generals and colonels of the Israel Defense Forces. The trailblazers include
Moshe Dayan
Moshe Dayan ( he, משה דיין; 20 May 1915 – 16 October 1981) was an Israeli military leader and politician. As commander of the Jerusalem front in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (1953–1958) du ...
,
Ariel Sharon
Ariel Sharon (; ; ; also known by his diminutive Arik, , born Ariel Scheinermann, ; 26 February 1928 – 11 January 2014) was an Israeli general and politician who served as the 11th Prime Minister of Israel from March 2001 until April 2006.
S ...
, and
Yitzhak Rabin
Yitzhak Rabin (; he, יִצְחָק רַבִּין, ; 1 March 1922 – 4 November 1995) was an Israeli politician, statesman and general. He was the fifth Prime Minister of Israel, serving two terms in office, 1974–77, and from 1992 until h ...
. In the Shabak and the foreign intelligence Mossad service, the trend showed up much later (during the mid-1990s), even though Isser Harel (who served as head of both services) and Meir Amit of the Mossad both served as lawmakers.
Ex-Shabak directors today are increasingly visible as candidates for higher office. Yaakov Peri became the chairman of Bank HaMizrahi in 2002, and also became a highly visible guest on television programs. Carmi Gillon serves as Chairman of the Local Council of
Mevaseret Zion
Mevaseret Zion ( he, מְבַשֶּׂרֶת צִיּוֹן, literal meaning: Herald of Zion – Jerusalem) is a suburb of Jerusalem with the administrative status of a local council. Mevaseret Zion is composed of two distinct older townships, Mao ...
, a Jerusalem suburb, while Avi Dichter and Ami Ayalon were at one time leading candidates for defense minister (Dichter for the Kadima party formed by prime minister Ariel Sharon, Ayalon on the Labour party ticket). Dichter eventually became Minister of Internal Security in the government led by
Ehud Olmert
Ehud Olmert (; he, אֶהוּד אוֹלְמֶרְט, ; born 30 September 1945) is an Israeli politician and lawyer. He served as the 12th Prime Minister of Israel from 2006 to 2009 and before that as a cabinet minister from 1988 to 1992 and ...
. Ayalon has attracted a widespread following as a co-initiator with Palestinian dignitary
Sari Nusseibeh
Sari Nusseibeh ( ar, سري نسيبة) (born in 1949) is a Palestinian professor of philosophy and former president of the Al-Quds University in Jerusalem. Until December 2002, he was the representative of the Palestinian National Authority in t ...
of the non-governmental Peoples' Voice initiative to petition the governments in Israel and the Palestinian Authority for a permanent settlement.
In 2007, the service launched its first-ever public recruitment drive, unveiling a "slick Website" and buying on-line ads in Israel and abroad in a campaign aimed at "attract
ngtop-tier computer programmers" to its "cutting-edge" IT division. On March 18, 2008, it was announced that Shabak's official website would also offer a
blog
A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...
, where four of its agents would discuss anonymously how they were recruited, and what sort of work they perform; they would also answer questions sent in by members of the public. The decision to launch the blog was made by the Shin Bet's top brass, including head
Yuval Diskin
Yuval Diskin ( he, יובל דיסקין; born June 11, 1956) was the 12th Director of the Israeli Internal Security Service Shabak (frequently referred to in English as the "Shin Bet") from 2005 to 2011. He was appointed by Prime Minister Ariel ...
, and is part of an attempt to attract high-tech workers to the agency's growing IT department. According to Shabak officers, the Web site and blog are aimed also at promoting a more accessible and positive public image for the secret service, long associated with "dark, undercover and even violent activity".
[Yaakov Katz]
"Shin Bet security agency launches blog"
, ''Jerusalem Post'', 17 March 2008.
In 2012, six former heads of the Shabak (Shalom, Peri, Gillon, Ayalon, Dichter, and Diskin) featured in a documentary film, ''
The Gatekeepers'', and discussed the main events of their tenures.
Shabak directors
![Reuven Rivlin with Yoram Cohen and Nadav Argaman (1)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7a/Reuven_Rivlin_with_Yoram_Cohen_and_Nadav_Argaman_%281%29.jpg)
*
Isser Harel
Isser Harel ( he, איסר הראל, 1912 – 18 February 2003) was spymaster of the intelligence and the security services of Israel and the Director of the Mossad (1952–1963). In his capacity as Mossad director he oversaw the capture and co ...
(1948–1952)
*
Izi Dorot Izi Dorot ( he, יצחק דורות; 1916–1980), born Isidore Roth, was an Israeli military official, and director of the Shabak between 1952 and 1953 and a Deputy Director of the Mossad between 1953 and 1963.
Born in Poland in 1916, Dorot immig ...
(1952–1953)
*
Amos Manor
Amos Manor ( he, עמוס מנור; October 8, 1918 – August 5, 2007) was Director of the Shin Bet, Israel's internal intelligence and security service, from 1953 until 1963.
Biography
Arthur Mendelowitz (later Amos Manor) was born to a J ...
(1953–1963)
*
Yossef Harmelin
Yossef Harmelin (1922 – December 12, 1994) was an Israeli civil servant, serving as the director of the Shabak from 1964 to 1974 and again from 1986 to 1988 and as ambassador in Iran and South Africa.
Born in Vienna, Harmelin was active in Ma ...
(1964–1974)
*
Avraham Ahituv (1974–1981)
*
Avraham Shalom Avraham Shalom Bendor ( he, אַבְרָהָם שָׁלוֹם בֵּנְדּוֹר; 7 July 1928 – 19 June 2014) was head of Shin Bet from 1981 to 1986.[Yossef Harmelin
Yossef Harmelin (1922 – December 12, 1994) was an Israeli civil servant, serving as the director of the Shabak from 1964 to 1974 and again from 1986 to 1988 and as ambassador in Iran and South Africa.
Born in Vienna, Harmelin was active in Ma ...]
(1986–1988)
*
Yaakov Peri
Ya'akov Peri ( he, יעקב פרי, born 20 February 1944) is a former head of the Israeli security agency Shin Bet and formerly a member of the Knesset for Yesh Atid. He headed Shin Bet between 1988 and 1994. He was the first Shin Bet head born ...
(1988–1994)
*
Carmi Gillon
Carmi Gillon (born January 1950) ( he, כרמי גילון) is an Israeli politician and a former Israeli ambassador to Denmark and head of Shin Bet, Shabak, the internal General Security Service (GSS; Israeli Security Agency, ISA) of Israel.
Aft ...
(1995–1996)
*
Ami Ayalon
Ami Ayalon ( he, עמיחי "עמי" איילון, born 27 June 1945) is an Israeli politician and a former member of the Knesset for the Labor Party. He was previously head of the Shin Bet, Israel's secret service, and commander-in-chief of the ...
(1996–2000)
*
Avi Dichter
Avi Dichter ( he, אָבִי דִּיכְטֶר, ; born 14 December 1952) is an Israeli politician. A former Minister of Internal Security and Shin Bet director, he resigned from the Knesset and left Kadima in August 2012 in order to become Mi ...
(2000–2005)
*
Yuval Diskin
Yuval Diskin ( he, יובל דיסקין; born June 11, 1956) was the 12th Director of the Israeli Internal Security Service Shabak (frequently referred to in English as the "Shin Bet") from 2005 to 2011. He was appointed by Prime Minister Ariel ...
(2005–2011)
*
Yoram Cohen
Yoram Cohen ( he, יורם כהן; born 1960) is a retired Israeli security person who served as the Director of Shin Bet, from May 15, 2011 until May 8, 2016, when he was replaced by Nadav Argaman.
Biography
Cohen was born in Israel to Moshe a ...
(2011–2016)
*
Nadav Argaman (2016–2021)
*
Ronen Bar
Ronen Bar is the director of Shin Bet since 13 October 2021. He previously served as deputy head of Shin Bet. Bar was appointed by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and his nomination was approved by Israel's cabinet on 11 October 2021. He assumed of ...
(2021–present)
See also
*
Israel Security Forces
*
Israel Border Police
The Israel Border Police ( he, מִשְׁמַר הַגְּבוּל, Mišmar Ha-Gvul) is the gendarmerie and border security branch of the Israel National Police. It is also commonly known by its Hebrew abbreviation Magav (), meaning border gua ...
*
Yamam
The Yamam ( he, ימ"מ, an acronym for ''Centralized Special Unit'' , ''Yeḥida Merkazit Meyuḥedet''), also called in Hebrew and Israel's National Counter Terror Unit (I.N.C.T.U.) in English, is Israel's national counter-terrorism unit, ...
*
Security agency
A security agency is a governmental organization that conducts intelligence activities for the internal security of a nation. They are the domestic cousins of foreign intelligence agencies, and typically conduct counterintelligence to thwart other ...
*
*
Aliyah Bet
''Aliyah Bet'' ( he, עלייה ב', "Aliyah 'B'" – bet being the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet) was the code name given to illegal immigration by Jews, most of whom were refugees escaping from Nazi Germany, and later Holocaust sur ...
References
External links
Shabak website
Profile: Israel's Shin Bet agency BBC News
BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...
Text of the 1999 High Court of Justice ruling(PDF)
B'tselem report on Shabak's use of tortureby
Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera ( ar, الجزيرة, translit-std=DIN, translit=al-jazīrah, , "The Island") is a state-owned Arabic-language international radio and TV broadcaster of Qatar. It is based in Doha and operated by the media conglomerate Al Jazeera ...
Shin Bet(
GlobalSecurity.org
GlobalSecurity.org is an American nonpartisan, independent, nonprofit organization that serves as a think tank, and research and consultancy group. Focus
The site is focused on national and international security issues; military analysis, syste ...
)
Knesset said "No" to Shabak*
Photos
{{Authority control
Israeli intelligence agencies