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Shabtai Shavit

Director of Mossad 1989-1996

Shabtai Shavit (Hebrew: שבתי שביט; born 17 July 1939) was director general of the Israeli Mossad from 1989 to 1996.

Biography

Shavit first joined the Israeli Navy, where he later went on to serve in the Sayeret Matkal. From 1978 to 1979, he was military governor of the Southern Command. In 1964, he joined the Mossad, 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 Ins*ute for Counter-Terrorism at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, 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 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 dated 17 May 2017, Shavit criticized President Donald Trump, stating his actions "put international information sharing at risk, in light of reports that the US President divulged cl*ified 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."

Autobiography

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

References