Shabtai Shavit (; 17 July 1939 – 5 September 2023) was an Israeli intelligence officer who served as the Director-General 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 ...

from 1989 to 1996.

Biography

Shavit first joined the

Israeli Navy The Israeli Navy (, ''Ḥeil HaYam HaYisraeli'', ; ) is the Israel Defense Forces#Arms, naval warfare service arm of the Israel Defense Forces, operating primarily in the Mediterranean Sea theater as well as the Gulf of Eilat and the Red Sea th ...

, where he later went on to serve in the Sayeret Matkal. From 1978 to 1979, he was military governor of the Southern Command.Jerusalem Summit Profile
. Retrieved 4 March 2007. In 1964, he joined the Mossad,Targeting Terrorism
''Newsweek'', 17 October 2001. Retrieved 4 March 2007. where he worked his way up to director general. After retiring from the Mossad, he spent five years as CEO of Maccabi Health Services Group. From 2001, he was chairman of the Institute for Counter-Terrorism at the Interdisciplinary Center in

Herzliya Herzliya ( ; , / ) is an affluent List of Israeli cities, city in the Israeli coastal plain, central coast of Israel, at the northern part of the Tel Aviv District, known for its robust start-up and entrepreneurial culture. In it had a populatio ...

, Israel. He was president and CEO of EMG Israel and chairman of Athena. Shavit continued to work in government, including as advisor to the Israeli National Security Council, advisor to 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 ...

Committee on Foreign Affairs and National Security Sub-Committee on Intelligence, and as a member of the N.Y.F.D. Task Force for Future Preparedness Against Terrorism. In an article by reporter Judah Ari Gross in

The Times of Israel ''The Times of Israel'' (ToI) is an Israeli multi-language online newspaper that was launched in 2012 and has since become the largest English-language Jewish and Israeli news source by audience size. It was co-founded by Israeli journalist Dav ...

dated 17 May 2017, Shavit criticized President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

, stating his actions "put international information sharing at risk, in light of reports that the US President divulged classified intelligence to Russia." The former spy chief went on to accuse Trump of "entering situations without first being properly briefed, and then unwittingly violating the unwritten codes of conduct of intelligence." Shavit died on 5 September 2023, at the age of 84.Former Mossad chief Shabtai Shavit dies at 84
/ref>

Autobiography

* Shabtai Shavit, ''Head of Mossad'', Yedioth books 2018 (in Hebrew)

References

1939 births 2023 deaths Directors of the Mossad Israeli chief executives Hebrew University of Jerusalem alumni Harvard Kennedy School alumni People from Nesher {{Israel-bio-stub