| Israel Security Agency Sherut haBitaẖon haKlali שירות הביטחון הכללי جهاز الأمن العام | |
|---|---|
 Emblem of the Israel Security Agency | |
| Common name | Shabak |
| Abbreviation | English:ISA,Local:Shabak - Hebrew:שב״כ, Arabic:شاباك |
| Motto | Magen v'lo Yera'eh |
| Agency overview | |
| Formed | 8 February 1949; 76 years ago (1949-02-08)[1] |
| Preceding agency | |
| Jurisdictional structure | |
| National agency | Israel |
| Operations jurisdiction | Israel |
| Governing body | Prime Minister of Israel |
| Operational structure | |
| Headquarters | Yarkon Park, Tel Aviv |
| Agency executive |
|
| Website | |
| shabak.gov.il | |
TheIsrael Security Agency,[a] better known by theacronymsShabak[b] orShin Bet,[c] is Israel'sinternal security andcounterintelligence service. Its motto is "Magen v'lo Yera'eh" (Hebrew:מָגֵן וְלֹא יֵרָאֶה,lit. 'the unseen shield'). The Shin Bet's headquarters are located in northwestTel Aviv, north ofYarkon Park.
It is one of three principal organizations of theIsraeli Intelligence Community, alongsideAman (military intelligence) andMossad (foreign intelligence service).
Shabak is believed to have three operational wings:[2]
Although a security agency, it is not a part of theIsraeli Ministry of Defense, and its chief answers directly to theprime minister of Israel.
Shabak's duties are safeguarding state security, exposingterrorist rings, interrogating terror suspects, providingintelligence forcounter-terrorism operations in theWest Bank and theGaza Strip,counter-espionage, personal protection of senior public officials, securing important infrastructure and government buildings, and safeguarding Israeli airlines and overseasembassies.[5][6]
With theIsraeli declaration of independence in 1948, the Shabak was founded as a branch of the Israel Defense Forces and was initially headed byIsser Harel (the father of Israeli Intelligence, who later headed theMossad). Responsibility for Shabak activity was later moved from the IDF to the office of the prime minister. During the1948 Arab–Israeli war, 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.[7]
One of the Shabak's leading successes was obtaining a copy of thesecret speech made byNikita Khrushchev in 1956, in which he denounced Stalin. A Polish edition of the speech was provided to the Israeli embassy inWarsaw 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.[8] 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.[9]
A notable achievement in counter-espionage was the 1961 capture ofIsrael Beer, who was revealed to be a Sovietspy. Beer was alieutenant colonel 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, aChristian German from theSudetenland and aprofessor in theTechnion, was revealed as aCzechoslovakian spy.[10]
Refaat Al-Gammal was an Egyptian spy who infiltrated Israeli society for 17 years. In 2004,Haaretz published a report that alleged he was in fact a double agent. Haaretz would go on to claim that in 1967 he had provided 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 theIsrael Air Force toknock out Egypt's air force within three hours of the outbreak of theSix-Day War.[11]
After the war, monitoring terrorist activity in theWest Bank andGaza Strip became a major part of Shabak's mission. During 1984–1986, Shabak experienced a major crisis following theKav 300 affair 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 seniorIDF officer.[12] Following the affair, Shabak headAvraham Shalom was forced to resign.
The 1987Landau Commission, 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 totorture.[13] A 1995 official report byMiriam Ben-Porat, 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 theFirst Intifada, between 1988 and 1992.[13]
In 1995, the Shin Bet failed to protect the Israeli prime minister,Yitzhak Rabin, who wasassassinated by right-wing Israeli radicalYigal Amir. 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, resigned preemptively. Later, theShamgar Commission pointed to serious flaws in the personal security unit. Another source of embarrassment and criticism was the violent, provocative and inciting behavior ofAvishai Raviv, aninformer of the Shabak's Jewish Unit during the time leading up to the assassination.[14] Later, Raviv was acquitted of the charges that he encouragedYigal Amir to kill Yitzhak Rabin.
A few months after the Rabin assassination, Hamas chief bombmakerYahya Ayyash was assassinated in atargeted killing in which an explosive device was planted in hiscellular phone.[15]
Gillon was replaced byIsraeli NavyadmiralAmi Ayalon, who helped to restore the organizationalmorale, after the debacle of the Rabin assassination, and to rehabilitate its public image.[16]
In 2000, Ayalon was replaced byAvi Dichter, an ex-Sayeret Matkalcommando and experienced Shabak agent, who tightened the working relationship with the Israel Defense Forces andIsraeli police. Dichter was in charge when theal-Aqsa Intifada erupted. He turned Shabak into a prominent player in the war on terrorism after the collapse of the2000 Camp David Summit.
In November 2003, four former heads of Shabak (Avraham Shalom,Yaakov Peri, Carmi Gillon and Ami Ayalon) called upon the Government of Israel to reach a peace agreement with the Palestinians.[17]
In May 2005, Dichter was replaced byYuval Diskin, who served until 2011.
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[ing] top-tier computer programmers" to its "cutting-edge" IT division. On March 18, 2008, it was announced that Shabak's official website would also offer ablog, 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.[18] The decision to launch the blog was made by the Shin Bet's top brass, including headYuval Diskin, 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 security service, long associated with "dark, undercover and even violent activity".[19]
In 2011,Yoram Cohen 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 was announced as the next head of the ISA,[20][21] and took office on 13 October.[22]
On 16 October 2023, following thesuccessful surprise attacks by Hamas against Israel and the subsequent outbreak of theGaza war, ISA director Ronen Bar took responsibility for his role in the failure of Israeli intelligence to predict the oncoming war from Gaza.[23][24] A subsequent Shin Bet report also stated that Israeli government policies may have emboldened Hamas militants to attack.[25]
In August 2024 Bar wrote to Israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu, warning that Israel's existence is threatened by Jewish settler riots and attacks on Palestinian villages on theWest Bank.[26][27]
On 21 April 2025 Bar submitted anaffidavit to theSupreme Court of Israel, in which he stated that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanded personal loyalty from him, attempting to use the service capabilities for political and personal gain rather than forstate security, before ultimately trying to fire him from the organization.[28][29][30][31] The affidavit states that Netanyahu explicitly told Shin Bet to conduct surveillance on citizens involved inanti-government protests.[30][31]
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 theConstitution, 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.[32]
Shabak also extracts information byinterrogating suspects, and there is a history of concern over its methods. In 1987, after complaints about excessive use of violence, theLandau Commission drew up guidelines condoning "moderate physical pressure" when necessary, but in 1994, State ComptrollerMiriam Ben-Porat found that these regulations were violated and senior GSS commanders did not prevent it.[33]
Later, in 1999, theIsraeli Supreme Court 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.[34] This ruling was hailed as landmark against using torture on Palestinian prisoners.[35]
Shabak claims it now uses only psychological means, althoughB'Tselem andAmnesty International continue to accuse Shabak of employing physical methods that amount to torture under international conventions.[36][37][38][39] In 2015,Physicians for Human Rights–Israel 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.[40]
Shabak has also worked closely with theIsraeli Air Force in "targeted killings" of field commanders and senior leaders of Palestinian militant factions[41] ofHamas,Palestinian Islamic Jihad, theAl-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, andFatah. These killings are usually done byhelicopter gunships. 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 IAFdrone feedback to ensure the men at the location are indeed the correct targets.[42]
Salah Haj Yihyeh, a Palestinian who runs mobile clinics forPhysicians for Human Rights, was detained for questioning by the Shin Bet.[dubious –discuss] 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.[43]
Palestinian journalistMohammed 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 toDemocracy Now!, 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.[44] The Israeli government rejected Omer's claims outright, citing inconsistencies in his allegations and noting that such investigations are strictly regulated.[45][46]
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.
InMessiah,Tomer Sisley plays Aviram Dahan, a Shin Bet operative who is fighting terrorism to protect his country.
The filmThe Engineer follows the Shin Bet operation to assassinateHamas bombmakerYahya Ayyash.
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