Benjamin Gibli
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Binyamin Gibli (; 1919 – August 19, 2008) was the head of
Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
i
Military Intelligence Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis List of intelligence gathering disciplines, approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist Commanding officer, commanders in decision making pr ...
from June 1950 to March 1955.
Shabtai Teveth Shabtai Teveth (; 1925 – 1 November 2014) was an Israeli historian and author. Teveth was born in 1925 and grew up in the worker' quarters at the Migdal Tzedek quarry, where his father worked, near Petah Tikva. He began working as a journali ...
(1996) ''Ben-Gurion's Spy: The Story of the Political Scandal That Shaped Modern Israel'' Columbia University press, chronology pp. xvii–xxx
Gibli was forced to resign in the wake of the
Lavon Affair The Lavon affair was a failed Israeli covert operation, codenamed Operation Susannah, conducted in Egypt in the summer of 1954. As part of a false flag operation, a group of Egyptian Jews were recruited by Israeli military intelligence to pla ...
, a failed Israeli operation in Egypt in 1954.


Biography

Binyamin Gibli was born in
Petah Tikva Petah Tikva (, ), also spelt Petah Tiqwa and known informally as Em HaMoshavot (), is a city in the Central District (Israel), Central District of Israel, east of Tel Aviv. It was founded in 1878, mainly by Haredi Judaism, Haredi Jews of the Old Y ...
in 1919. His father, Moshe Granzia of
Briansk Bryansk (, ) is a city and the administrative center of Bryansk Oblast, Russia, situated on the Desna River, southwest of Moscow. It has a population of 379,152 at the 2021 census. Bryansk is one of the oldest cities in the oblast, with 985 re ...
,
Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...
, immigrated to
Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...
in May 1914. Granzia settled in Kfar Ganim and changed his name to Gibli. His mother's first name was Yehudit.Shabtai Teveth (1996) ''Ben-Gurion's Spy: The Story of the Political Scandal That Shaped Modern Israel'' Columbia University press, pp. 2–3 Gibli married Esther Pinhassi in 1940 and moved to her family home in Ein Ganim. In 1941 he joined the "
Jewish Settlement Police The Jewish Settlement Police (JSP) were a division of the Notrim established in Mandatory Palestine in 1936, during the 1936-39 Arab revolt.Levenberg, 1993, p. 156. History At the end of 1940, the JSP had about 15,000 members. A field arm ...
", and the following year completed an infantry officers' course at the training school for Haganah cadres. In 1946 he became a district officer for the Haganah Intelligence Service (
SHAI Shai (also spelt Sai, occasionally Shay, and in Greek, Psais) was the deification of the concept of fate in Egyptian mythology. As a concept, with no particular reason for associating one gender over another, Shai was sometimes considered femal ...
), based in
Petah Tikva Petah Tikva (, ), also spelt Petah Tiqwa and known informally as Em HaMoshavot (), is a city in the Central District (Israel), Central District of Israel, east of Tel Aviv. It was founded in 1878, mainly by Haredi Judaism, Haredi Jews of the Old Y ...
, with responsibility for the southern region. One of his duties was safeguarding the water pipelines to Jewish settlements. In March 1948 he was appointed head of SHAI in Jerusalem. On 20 June 1948 he took part in the field
drumhead court-martial A drumhead court-martial is a court-martial held in the field to render summary justice for offenses committed in action. The term is said to originate from drums used as improvised tables and drumheads as writing surfaces at fast-track mil ...
and wrongful execution of
Meir Tobianski Meir Tobianski (, also ''Tubianski''; 20 May 1904 – 30 June 1948) was an officer in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) who was executed as a traitor on circumstantial evidence on the orders of Isser Be'eri, the first director of the IDF's inte ...
at Beit Jiz. Three other SHAI officers were present including SHAI chief
Isser Be'eri Isser Be'eri (, born Isser Birenzweig; 30 January 1901 – 1 January 1958) was the director of the Haganah Intelligence Service in Israel and was responsible for helping to reorganise Israeli intelligence services in 1948, as well as ordering th ...
. Gibli acted as presiding judge, prosecutor, witness and record-keeper. Tobianski, 45 years old, was found guilty of transmitting information to the enemy and a few hours later executed by a
Palmach The Palmach (Hebrew: , acronym for , ''Plugot Maḥatz'', "Strike Phalanges/Companies") was the elite combined strike forces and sayeret unit of the Haganah, the paramilitary organization of the Yishuv (Jewish community) during the period of th ...
firing squad. On 3 July 1949
David Ben-Gurion David Ben-Gurion ( ; ; born David Grün; 16 October 1886 – 1 December 1973) was the primary List of national founders, national founder and first Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister of the State of Israel. As head of the Jewish Agency ...
issued a public exoneration of Tobianski and restitution of his rank and rights. Four days later his body was re-buried on
Mount Herzl Mount Herzl ( ''Har Hertsl''), also ''Har ha-Zikaron'' ( lit. "Mount of Remembrance"), is the site of Israel's national cemetery and other memorial and educational facilities, found on the west side of Jerusalem beside the Jerusalem Forest. I ...
. In November 1949, after a trial at which Gibli appeared as a witness for the prosecution, Be'eri was found guilty of manslaughter.


Career

*Member of the Labor sports association
Hapoel Hapoel (, ) is an Israeli Jewish sports association established in 1926 by the Histadrut Labor Federation. History During the Mandate for Palestine, British Mandate of Palestine period Hapoel had a bitter rivalry with Maccabi World Union, Maccab ...
*Member of
Mapai Mapai (, an abbreviation for , ''Mifleget Poalei Eretz Yisrael'', ) was a Labor Zionist and democratic socialist political party in Israel, and was the dominant force in Israeli politics until its merger into the Israeli Labor Party in January ...
*Member of
Haganah Haganah ( , ) was the main Zionist political violence, Zionist paramilitary organization that operated for the Yishuv in the Mandatory Palestine, British Mandate for Palestine. It was founded in 1920 to defend the Yishuv's presence in the reg ...
*1941 – late 1944 member of the Jewish settlement police *October 1946 Joined SHAI as south district officer *March 1948 Appointed head of
SHAI Shai (also spelt Sai, occasionally Shay, and in Greek, Psais) was the deification of the concept of fate in Egyptian mythology. As a concept, with no particular reason for associating one gender over another, Shai was sometimes considered femal ...
Jerusalem *27 April 1948 Assumes SHAI command in Jerusalem *30 June 1948 SHAI disbands and Aman inaugurated Gibly appointed as head of MI 1 *22 February 1953 Takes up study leave in U.S. Harkabi acting Director of Aman *28 March 1954 Returns as Director of Aman *7 March 1955 Resigns *1956 Brigade Commander *1957 Chief of Staff, Central Command *1960 Military Attache to the United Kingdom and ScandinaviaTeveth, p. 278.


Lavon affair

Gibli was one of the planners ''Operation Suzannah,'' a false flag operation whose objective was to keep the
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
in the
Suez Canal The Suez Canal (; , ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, Indo-Mediterranean, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia (and by extension, the Sinai Peninsula from the rest ...
by creating instability through terrorist acts perpetrated against the British, Egyptians and Americans conducted in Egypt in the Summer of 1954. As part of the false flag operation, a group of Egyptian Jews were recruited by Israeli military intelligence for plans to plant bombs inside Egyptian, American and British-owned civilian targets, cinema, library and American educational center. The attacks were to be blamed on the Muslim Brotherhood, Egyptian Communists, "unspecified malcontents" or "local nationalists" with the aim of creating a climate of sufficient violence and instability to induce the British government to retain its occupying troops in Egypt's Suez Canal zone.
Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
ian authorities uncovered the plan, which pointed to
Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
i involvement. In the wake of the scandal over who actually ordered the operation, known as the
Lavon Affair The Lavon affair was a failed Israeli covert operation, codenamed Operation Susannah, conducted in Egypt in the summer of 1954. As part of a false flag operation, a group of Egyptian Jews were recruited by Israeli military intelligence to pla ...
, Gibli was forced to resign, along with Israel's defense minister,
Pinhas Lavon Pinhas Lavon (; 12 July 190424 January 1976) was an Israeli politician, minister and labor leader, best known for the Lavon Affair. Early life Lavon was born Pinhas Lubianiker in the small city of Kopychyntsi in the Galicia region of Austria ...
.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gibli, Binyamin 1919 births 2008 deaths Directors of the Military Intelligence Directorate (Israel) Israeli military personnel of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War Israeli people of Polish-Jewish descent