Shabtai Shavit ( he, שבתי שביט; born 17 July 1939) is a former director general of the Israeli Mossad from 1989 to 1996.

Biography

Shavit first joined the

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 ...

, where he later went on to serve in the

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 (''matkal''). It is the prime special ...

. From 1978 to 1979, he was military governor of the Southern Command.Jerusalem Summit Profile
. Retrieved March 4, 2007. In 1964, he joined the Mossad,Targeting Terrorism
''Newsweek'', October 17, 2001. Retrieved March 4, 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 ( ; he, הֶרְצְלִיָּה ; ar, هرتسليا, Hirtsiliyā) is an affluent city in the central coast of Israel, at the northern part of the Tel Aviv District, known for its robust start-up and entrepreneurial culture. In it h ...

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 ...

. 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 The National Security Council (NSC) ( he, המטה לביטחון לאומי ''HaMateh leBitachon Leumi'') is Israel's central body for coordination, integration, analysis and monitoring in the field of national security and is the staff forum on ...

, advisor to the

Knesset The Knesset ( he, הַכְּנֶסֶת ; "gathering" or "assembly") is the unicameral legislature of Israel. As the supreme state body, the Knesset is sovereign and thus has complete control of the entirety of the Israeli government (with ...

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'' is an Israeli multi-language online newspaper that was launched in 2012. It was co-founded by Israeli journalist David Horovitz, who is also the founding editor, and American billionaire investor Seth Klarman.

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 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."

Autobiography

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

References

Living people Directors of the Mossad 1939 births Israeli chief executives Harvard Kennedy School alumni {{Israel-bio-stub