(Redirected from Israel Security Agency)
:''For the ethnic group in northern Iraq, see
Shabak people.''
Shabak emblem "Defender who shall not be seen"
The 'Shabak' ( '') an acronym of ''Sherut Bitahon Klali'' שירות ביטחון כללי), was formerly known as the 'Shin Bet', and is sometimes referred to as the 'Israel Security Agency' (ISA), or the 'General Security Service' (GSS). Shabak is the internal security service of
Israel, the Israeli equivalent to the
FBI. Its
motto is "מגן ולא יראה," which translates into: "Defender (Shield) who shall not be seen". It is one of three principal organizations of the
Israeli Intelligence Community, alongside
Aman (the
military intelligence of the
IDF) and
Mossad (responsible for overseas
intelligence work).
Duties and roles
Shabak's duties are:
★ Upholding the state
security against those who seek to undermine it by
terrorist activity or violent revolution.
★ Expose terrorist organizations of
Israeli civilians
★ Interrogations of terror suspects.
★ Providing
intelligence for
counter-terrorism operations in the
West Bank and the
Gaza Strip.
★
Counter-espionage.
★ Protect the lives of senior public officials (see also:
bodyguards).
★ Secure important infrastructure and government buildings.
★ Ensure the security of
El-Al,
Arkia and
Israir flights and Israel's
embassies abroad.
Legal status and methods
Shabak relies mainly on
HUMINT to gather information and intelligence. It uses
informants from the local population in order to gather intelligence about planned attacks or about the location of opposition leaders. Shabak has overwhelming success with informants, managing to target the top leaders of the Palestinian terrorist organizations—including
Hamas and the
Islamic Jihad. The killing of Sheikh
Ahmed Yassin and
Abed al-Aziz Rantissi shows how deeply Shabak has penetrated into the Palestinian militias. As a result, the Palestinian groups, mainly the
al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, have killed many countrymen suspected of being
collaborators.
Shabak also extracts information by
interrogating suspects. In 1987, after complaints about excessive use of violence in interrogations of Palestinian prisoners, the Landau Committee (headed by a former Supreme Court President) prepared a two-part report on Shabak's interrogation methods. Only one part was made public. It revealed that the Shabak regularly used violent methods of interrogation and that Shabak agents were tutored to lie in court about how evidence was uncovered. The committee report also gave guidelines for future interrogations but most of the details were in the secret part of the report. The open part revealed that the guidelines allowed Shabak to apply "moderate physical pressure" in the case of "necessity." In 1994, State Comptroller Miriam Ben-Porat, in a report not made public until February 2000, found that during 1988-1992 "Violation of the Landau Commission and the GSS regulations continued to be widespread in the interrogation facility in Gaza and, to some extent, in other facilities.… Veteran and senior investigators in the Gaza facility carried out severe and systematic violations. Senior GSS commanders did not prevent these violations."
[1]
In 1999 the
Israeli Supreme Court heard several petitions against Shabak methods. It found that these included: (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.
In the Justice Ministry,
the Department For Special Roles, there is a senior investigator who checks complaints about Shabak interrogations.
Shabak claims that it is now basing its interrogations only on psychological means. However, organizations such as
B'Tselem and
Amnesty International still accuse Shabak of employing physical methods that amount to torture under international conventions.
In 2002 the Israeli
Knesset passed a law, regulating the activity of Shabak. The law ruled that:
★ The
Prime Minister of Israel is in charge of the Shabak and carries ministerial responsibility for its activity. The head of the Shabak answers to the prime minister.
★ The Shabak head will serve 5 years in duty, unless there is a state of emergency.
★ Interrogation methods: this part was not made public.
History
Foundation
With the declaration of Israeli Independence, the 'Shin Bet' was founded, as a branch of the
Israel Defense Forces, and was headed by
Isser Harel (the father of Israeli Intelligence, who later headed the
Mossad). Responsibility for Shin Bet activity was later moved from the IDF to the office of the
prime minister. During the
1948 Arab-Israeli war that was declared against Israel following the Israeli independence, the Shin Bet's responsibility included only internal security affairs. It was only later that its responsibilities were extended to
Counter-espionage and the monitoring of
Israeli Arabs (Arabs who did not leave Israel during the 1948 war of Israeli independence and who were granted Israeli citizenship).
Early days
In the beginning, as part of efforts to prevent anti-state activity, the Shin Bet monitored pro-
Soviet opposition parties suspected of supporting the
Soviet Union over
Israel if the
Cold War were to become an active full scale war. The political leadership, headed by
David Ben-Gurion, silenced publications that dealt with these activities. Only
Uri Avneri successfully published about these activities in
Haolam Hazeh newspaper. A great controversy was created when two Shin Bet agents were caught installing a
bugging device in
Meir Yeari's office (Yeari was the leader of
Mapam - a
Socialist Zionist party with favorable views of the
Soviet Union and
Joseph Stalin).
One of the Shabak's most important successes, though it is often incorrectly attributed to the
Mossad, was to obtain a copy of the
secret speech made by
Khrushchev in 1956, when he denounced
Stalin. A Polish edition of the speech was provided to the Israeli embassy in
Warsaw 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, who published it with Israeli approval.
Up until the
Six Day War, the Shin Bet continued to focus on
counter-espionage and monitoring political activity among the Israeli Arabs. Shabak's most notable achievement in counter-espionage was the capture of Dr.
Israel Bar in 1961 who was revealed to be a
Soviet spy. Bar was a
Lieutenant Colonel in the reserves, a senior security commentator and close friend of Ben-Gurion, and reached high Israeli circles. Bar was tried and sentenced to ten years in prison (which was later extended by the Supreme Court to fifteen years, following his appeal), where he died. In the same year,
Kurt Sita, a
Christian German from the
Sudetenland and a
professor in the
Technion, was revealed as a
Czech spy.
After the Six Day War
After the
Six Day War, Shabak efforts to monitor terrorist activity in the
West Bank and
Gaza Strip become a more and more dominant part of the organization activity, and today it is considered to be the major part of Shabak's mission.
Yeshayahu Leibowitz warned that the control over the territories will turn Israel into a "Shabak state". However, Shabak imposed restrictions on itself in order to not harm democratic values, separation of authorities and to prevent the risk that Shabak will be used in a totalitarian manner.
Years of crisis
During 1984-1986 Shabak went into a major crisis following the
Kav 300 affair in which two terrorists who hijacked a bus and took hostages were executed without trial by Shabak officers, who later covered up the event and gave false testimonies. Following this affair,
Avraam Shalom (then the head of Shabak) was forced to resign.
The event resulted in the Landau committee, which regulated Shabak interrogation methods.
In 1995 a crisis followed the
assassination of
Israeli Prime Minister Itzhak Rabin by
Yigal Amir. Following the Shabak's failure to protect Rabin,
Carmi Gillon was forced to resign. Later, the
Shamgar investigation committee learned of serious flaws in the personal security unit and the provocative and inciting behavior of
Avishai Raviv - an
Agent provocateur of the Shin Bet Jewish Unit. Raviv created a "
photoshopped" picture of Rabin in an
SS uniform, and presented it in the infamous
Zion Square demonstration in Jerusalem prior to Rabin's murder. Raviv also encouraged Yigal Amir to kill Yitzhak Rabin, actions for which Raviv was eventually put on trial and acquitted.
Gillon was replaced by outside "import",
Israeli Navy admiral Ami Ayalon. Ayalon rehabilitated Shabak after Rabin's murder and worked hard to restore its reputation with the general public.
In 1996, a unit of the Shabak assassinated
Hamas chief bombmaker
Yahya Ayyash by planting an explosive device in his
cellular phone. The operation was carried out after an instruction by then Prime Minister
Shimon Peres.
During the al-Aqsa Intifada
In 2000, Ayalon ended his 5-years term and he was replaced by veteran Shabak official,
Avi Dichter. Dichter, an ex-
Sayeret Matkal commando and an experienced Shabak
agent, tightened the working relationship with the
Israeli Defence Forces and the
Israeli police. Foreign press hinted that Shabak is working tightly with the elite Israeli counter-terror unit,
Yamam.
Dichter was in charge when the
al-Aqsa Intifada erupted. He managed to react quickly to changes and turn Shabak into a prominent player in Israel's war against
Palestinians after the collapse of the
2000 Camp David Summit.
The Shin Bet is most known for its role in the conflict with
Palestinians. The Shin Bet produces intelligence which enables the
Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) to prevent
suicide bombings before they reach their destinations. This is usually done by preventive arrests and deploying road blocks when there is a serious alert.
In addition to preventing
suicide bombings from the West Bank by arrests and special operations, Shabak is working tightly with the
Israeli Air Force in order to pinpoint and kill terror masterminds and terrorist leaders by precision
air strike. The targets are field commanders and senior leaders of Palestinian militant factions (which Israel consider as terrorists), mainly those of
Hamas, but also of the
Islamic Jihad, the
Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the
Fatah and even one
Al-Qaeda linkman (
Iad Al-Bik). These assassinations, called "
targeted killings", are usually done by
helicopter gunships, where both IAF commanders and Shabak agents sit together in the command center monitoring the operation. Shabak's task is giving intelligence when and where the target will be available for a strike and then reacting to IAF
drone feedback and ensuring the men on the sight are indeed the wanted terrorists (this part is called "identification and incrimination").
Shabak's effective activity during the second Intifada boosted its reputation both among the Israeli public and
counter-terror experts.
[2]
2003 to 2006
In November 2003, four former heads of Shin Bet (
Avraham Shalom,
Yaakov Peri,
Carmi Gillon and
Ami Ayalon) called upon the Government of Israel to reach a peace agreement with the Palestinians.
[3].
Avi Dichter is one of the chief supporters of building a defence barrier against Palestinians in the
West Bank. The Israeli government began building the
Israeli West Bank Barrier in 2003. Dichter has since said that the barrier 'is working' and helps to prevent and reduce
terror attacks.
[4],
[5]
In February 2005,
Ariel Sharon announced that
Yuval Diskin, a veteran Shabak field agent, senior negotiator with Palestinian officers and mastermind of the "targeted killings", will replace Dichter after he ends his five-year term. On
May 15,
2005 Diskin entered into office after Dichter left with great applause from the press, the politicians, and the public. Dichter has joined the political arena and is now a member of the
Kadima party, founded by the former
Israeli prime minister
Ariel Sharon.
In September 2006, the Shin Bet, launched its first-ever public recruitment drive with the creation of a
Web site. The employment campaign, coming on the heels of a newly approved defense budget, is targeting computer programmers.
Rising profile
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 brass 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 including
Moshe Dayan,
Ariel Sharon, and
Yitzhak Rabin. In the Shabak and the foreign intelligence
Mossad service, the trend showed up much later (During 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, 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 current government led by
Ehud Olmert. Ayalon has attracted widespread following as a co-initiator with Palestinian dignitary Sari Nusseibeh of the non-governmental Peoples' Voice initiative to petition the governments in Israel and the Palestinian Authority for a permanent settlement.
Criticism
The so-called "
Shabak technique" is an extreme
interrogation technique that is used on
Palestinian suspects. It has never officially been confirmed by the secretive Shin Bet as acceptable for use. Informal accounts by prisoners indicate it may involve forcing the subject to sit on a short stool or chair which is angled forward (so it's impossible to sit in a comfortable, stable position) and then tying their arms and legs behind them to the chair, while also covering their head with a bag and possibly subjecting them to extremely loud noise, such as music. The subject is then left in this condition for extended periods of time. Sleep is not allowed for the duration.
This method was prohibited by the Israeli Supreme Court on
September 6,
1999, along with all other forms of torture and physical pressure. In 2000 an official Israeli government report was released, after being kept secret for five years, in which the government admitted torturing Palestinian detainees between 1988 and 1992.
On
May 6,
2007 two human rights organizations released a report in which they charge Shabak of continuing its torture techniques despite a court ruling in 1999 prohibiting such techniques. The report is based on testimony from 73 prisoners who were in Shin Bet custody between March 2005 and July 2006. The report continues with descriptions of these techniques, all of which are classified as torture under international law: physical beatings, painful binding, back bending, and body stretching and prolonged sleep deprivation.
Furthermore, the report criticizes the lack of accountability within the Shabak stating that despite over 500 complaints of abuse made to the attorney's office since 2001, no criminal investigation was launched as complaints are investigated by a member of the Shin Bet.
[6]
Lists and tables
Important events in Shabak history
★ 1948: Founded as the ''Shin Bet'', one of the three secret services in Israel along with the Military Intelligence and Foreign Intelligence (later, the
Mossad).
★ 1956: Obtained a copy of Khrushchev's speech denouncing Stalin.
★ 1961: the Shabak exposé of Doctor
Israel Bar as a
Soviet spy.
★ 1984: The
Kav 300 Affair: Two terrorists hijacked a
bus and after IDF SF and Shabak regained control over the bus,
Avraam Shalom ordered the killing of the two terrorists who were captured alive, and
Danny Yatom knocked their skulls in with a brick. The officers involved tried to cover this up.
★ 1987: The Izat Nafsu affair: An officer was cleared from spy charges, and Shabak was highly criticized for its methods and norms.
★ 1995: The
assassination of Prime Minister
Yitzhak Rabin by
Yigal Amir and the failure of Shabak to prevent it.
★ 1996: Shabak assassinates
Hamas top bomb-maker
Yahya Ayyash, "The Engineer."
★ 2000-2005: The
al-Aqsa Intifada and Shabak main role in intelligence gathering and
counter-terror efforts.
Avraam Dichter received high credit for Shabak part in thwarting hundreds of
suicide attacks and the
targeted assassination of terrorist leaders.
Heads of the Shabak
★
Isser Harel (1948–1952)
★
Izi Dorot (1952–1953)
★
Amos Manor (1953–1963)
★
Yossef Harmelin (1964–1974)
★
Avraham Ahitov (1974–1981)
★
Avraham Shalom (1981–1986)
★
Yossef Harmelin (1986–1988)
★
Yaakov Peri (1988–1994)
★
Carmi Gillon (1995–1996)
★
Ami Ayalon (1996–2000)
★
Avi Dichter (2000–2005)
★
Yuval Diskin (2005–)
See also
★
Israel Security Forces
★
Israel Defence Forces
★
Israel Border Police
★
Mossad
★
Yamam
★
Security agency
External links
★
Shabak Official website (Hebrew)
★
Shin Bet (
FAS)
★
"Return of the Shin Bet" By Omri Essenheim (
Maariv,
25 May 2004 - reprint at FAS)
★
Text of the 1999 High Court of Justice ruling (PDF)
★
B'tselem report on Shabak's use of torture
★
Knesset said "No" to Shabak
★
BBC - Israel admits torture
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