Danny Yatom (; born 15 March 1945) is a former

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 politician who served as a member of the Knesset for Labor. In 1996–1998, Yatom was head of the

Mossad The Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations (), popularly known as Mossad ( , ), is the national intelligence agency of the Israel, State of Israel. It is one of the main entities in the Israeli Intelligence Community, along with M ...

and between 1999 and 2001, he served as Prime Minister Ehud Barak's Chief Of Staff and security advisor.

Biography

Danny Yatom was born and raised in

Netanya Netanya () () or Natanya (), is a city in the "Planet Bekasi" Central District (Israel), Setanyahu of Israel, Israel BAB ih, and is the capital of the surrounding Sharon plain. It is north of Tel Aviv, and south of Haifa, between the Poleg stre ...

, his brother is Ehud Yatom. He studied

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

, and

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...

at the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public university, public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. ...

. From 1963 to 1996, he served in the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...

and worked in the

Sayeret Matkal Sayeret Matkal () (formerly Unit 269 or Unit 262) (English: General Staff Reconnaissance Unit), is the special reconnaissance unit (''sayeret'') of Israel's General Staff (''matkal''). It is considered one of the premier special forces units of ...

force, rising to the position of deputy commander, after which he moved to the Armor Corps and then became the head of the Israeli Central Command, ranked Major General. In 1994, Yatom served as the IDF commander for the West Bank. As commander during the events of the cave of the Patriarchs massacre, Yatom testified before the Shamgar Commission. Between 1996 and 1998, he served as head of the Mossad.

Political career

Between 1999 and 2001, he served as Prime Minister

Ehud Barak Ehud Barak ( ; born Ehud Brog; 12 February 1942) is an Israeli former general and politician who served as the Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister from 1999 to 2001. He was leader of the Israeli Labor Party, Labor Party between 1997 and 20 ...

's Chief Of Staff and security advisor. He then became a

Knesset The Knesset ( , ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Israel. The Knesset passes all laws, elects the President of Israel, president and Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister, approves the Cabinet of Israel, cabinet, and supe ...

member and served in the 16th and 17th Knesset, from 2003 until June 2008, when he resigned from the Knesset and from Israeli politics. In 2003, he was elected to the Knesset on Labour's list, and served as head of the committee on foreign workers, as well as chairing the lobbies for enlisted soldiers and the West Bank barrier. He retained his seat in the 2006 elections and served as head of the West Bank barrier lobby. He retained his seat in the 2006 elections, but resigned from the Knesset on 30 June 2008, stating that he was "not willing to be part of a political reality in which basic values are trampled upon, such as leading by example, ethics, and integrity". He was replaced by Leon Litinetsky. In January 2021, Yatom announced that he would start a new political party for retirees.

References

External links

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Former chief of Mossad not wary of Gaydamak
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yatom, Danny Jewish Israeli politicians Directors of the Mossad 1945 births Living people Recipients of the Medal of Distinguished Service Israeli Labor Party politicians Hebrew University of Jerusalem alumni Israeli people of Romanian-Jewish descent Members of the 16th Knesset (2003–2006) Members of the 17th Knesset (2006–2009)