Gonen Ben Itzhak (; born: 3 March 1971) is an Israeli lawyer, former

Shin Bet The Israel Security Agency (ISA; , (GSS); ), better known by the Hebrew acronyms, acronyms Shabak (; ; ) or Shin Bet (from the abbreviation of , "Security Service"), is Israel's internal Security agency, security service. Its motto is "''Magen ...

coordinator, and social activist. He is one of the former handlers of undercover informant

Mosab Hassan Yousef Mosab Hassan Yousef (; born 5 May 1978) is an ex–Palestinian militant who defected to Israel in 1997, thereafter working as an Israeli spy for the Shin Bet until he moved to the United States in 2007. His father is Hassan Yousef, a co-found ...

(" The Green Prince"). He is one of the leading figures in the protests against Benjamin Netanyahu, and is among the founders of the anti-

Netanyahu Benjamin Netanyahu (born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who has served as the prime minister of Israel since 2022, having previously held the office from 1996 to 1999 and from 2009 to 2021. Netanyahu is the longest-serving prime min ...

protest movement "Crime Minister".

Biography

Gonen Ben Itzhak grew up in

Ness Ziona Ness Ziona (, ''Nes Tziyona'') is a city in Central District (Israel), Central District, Israel. In it had a population of , and its jurisdiction was 15,579 dunams (). Identification Lying within Ness Ziona's city bounds is the ruin of the Arab ...

. His father is Brigadier General Uzi Ben Itzhak and his mother, Ronit, is a music teacher. In 1985, the family moved to the United States due to his father's military service. Ben Itzhak served in the

Israeli Navy The Israeli Navy (, ''Ḥeil HaYam HaYisraeli'', ; ) is the Israel Defense Forces#Arms, naval warfare service arm of the Israel Defense Forces, operating primarily in the Mediterranean Sea theater as well as the Gulf of Eilat and the Red Sea th ...

. Following his discharge, he studied psychology at the University of Beer Sheva and completed a bachelor's degree. He was a troop coordinator and was the Southern District coordinator of the Israeli Scouts movement. In 2005, he began studying law and business administration at

IDC Herzliya Reichman University () is Israel's only private university, located in Herzliya, Tel Aviv District. It was founded in 1994 as the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya (IDC Herzliya, ) private college, before being rebranded in 2021. It receives no ...

. He completed his master's degree with distinction at

Tel-Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) is a Public university, public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Located in northwest Tel Aviv, the university is the center of teaching and ...

Shin Bet position

In 1996, Ben Itzhak was recruited to the

as an

intelligence officer An intelligence officer is a member of the intelligence field employed by an organization to collect, compile or analyze information (known as intelligence) which is of use to that organization. The word of ''officer'' is a working title, not a r ...

in the Arab sector – in the area of

Ramallah Ramallah ( , ; ) is a Palestinians, Palestinian city in the central West Bank, that serves as the administrative capital of the State of Palestine. It is situated on the Judaean Mountains, north of Jerusalem, at an average elevation of abov ...

. In this capacity, he was entrusted with the task of recruiting and handling agents and preventing terrorist attacks in the area. In 2002, he was appointed deputy coordinator of the district of Ramallah. He commanded the area during

Operation Defensive Shield Operation Defensive Shield ( ) was a 2002 Israeli military operation in the Israeli-occupied West Bank during the Second Intifada. Lasting for just over a month, it was the largest combat operation in the territory since the 1967 Arab–Israe ...

, among other operations. In this capacity, he handled agents within the ranks of terrorist organization members. Ben Itzhak was involved with the 2002 arrest of

Marwan Barghouti Marwan Barghouti (also transliterated al-Barghuthi; ; born 6 June 1959) is a Palestinian political leader who has served as an elected legislator and has been an advocate of a two-state solution prior to his imprisonment by Israel.

"The Green Prince"

Ben Itzhak was among the handlers of

("The Green Prince"), son of Sheik Hassan Yousef, one of the leaders of

Hamas The Islamic Resistance Movement, abbreviated Hamas (the Arabic acronym from ), is a Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamism, Islamist political organisation with a military wing, the Qassam Brigades. It has Gaza Strip under Hama ...

. Yousef ranked among the top Shin Bet agents within Hamas and worked for the Shin Bet for nearly ten years. Together with Yousef, Ben Itzhak worked to prevent Hamas terrorist operations in the area of Ramallah. Ben Itzhak stood behind the arrest of Shadi Saadiya, the terrorist behind the

Ein 'Arik checkpoint attack The Ein 'Arik checkpoint attack occurred 19 February 2002. One Israeli officer and 5 soldiers were killed in an attack on an IDF checkpoint near the Palestinian village of Ein 'Arik, west of Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Hist ...

in which six Israeli soldiers were killed. Ben Itzhak was interviewed in the 2014 documentary film '' The Green Prince''. He also served as professional advisor for the 2013 Israeli film ''

Bethlehem Bethlehem is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, located about south of Jerusalem, and the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate. It had a population of people, as of . The city's economy is strongly linked to Tourism in the State of Palesti ...

'' and throughout the first season of the acclaimed Israeli television series, ''

Fauda ''Fauda'' (, from ''fawḍā'', meaning "chaos" or "mess") is an Israeli television series developed by Lior Raz and Avi Issacharoff drawing on their experiences in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). It tells the story of Doron, a commander in ...

''.

Social and political activism

Ben Itzhak is part of the struggle against "The Gas Plan", the decision made by the Israeli government, in August 2015, to regulate the

natural gas Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...

industry in the country. He was arrested during a protest near Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office. On 6 October 2008, he was arrested in

Beit She'an Beit She'an ( '), also known as Beisan ( '), or Beth-shean, is a town in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. The town lies at the Beit She'an Valley about 120 m (394 feet) below sea level. Beit She'an is believed to ...

for obstructing the prime minister's convoy. He took part in protests against the attorney general,

Avichai Mandelblit Avichai Mandelblit (; born 29 July 1963) is an Israeli jurist who served as the Attorney General of Israel from 2016 to 2022. Mandelblit had a long career in the Israel Defense Forces legal system, eventually serving as the Chief Military Advoc ...

. Ben Itzhak is a member of "Israel Yekara Lanu" (a pun that can mean both Israel is Dear to Us and Israel is Expensive for Us), which fights against the cost of living in Israel. In 2019, Ben Itzhak joined the "Eretz Hadasha" (New Country) party which ran in the general elections. In January 2021 he announced he was joining the Telem political party led by

Moshe Ya'alon Moshe "Bogie" Ya'alon (; born Moshe Smilansky; 24 June 1950) is an Israeli politician and former Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, who also served as Israel's Defense Minister under Benjamin Netanyahu from 2013 until his resignation ...

. In 2020, Ben Itzhak was listed in ''

TheMarker ''TheMarker'' () is a Hebrew-language daily business newspaper published by the Haaretz Group in Israel. ''TheMarker'' was founded in 1999 by journalist and entrepreneur Guy Rolnik along with Haaretz Group and U.S.-based investors. Five years ...

'' list of the 100 most influential people in Israel.

Crime Minister

Ben Itzhak is among the founding members of the "Hoze Hadash" (New Contract) movement, better known as "Crime Minister". He is involved in many protests across the country and near the prime minister's residence in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

. Along with other lawyers, he represents people who have been arrested during the protests against Benjamin Netanyahu. Ben Itzhak serves as legal advisor for various protest movements, which include the "Black Flag" protests. On 18 July 2020, Ben Itzhak was arrested after lying down under a

water cannon A water cannon is a device that shoots a high-velocity stream of water. Typically, a water cannon can deliver a large volume of water, often over dozens of meters. They are used in firefighting, large vehicle washing, riot control, and mining. ...

in order to prevent its use. On 24 November 2020, Ben Itzhak was indicted on grounds of "disturbing public order and preventing the police from carrying out their duties". Head of

Ronen Bar Ronen Bar (; born 25 December 1965) is an Israeli intelligence officer and the director of the Israeli Security Agency (commonly referred to as Shin Bet, Shabak, or ISA) since 13 October 2021. He replaced Nadav Argaman, after having served as ...

, alleged that Netanyahu asked him to use the resources and authority of the Shin Bet against Ben Itzhak

Personal life

Ben Itzhak is married and the father of four.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ben Itzhak, Gonen 1971 births Living people Israeli activists People of the Shin Bet Israeli lawyers Tel Aviv University alumni Ben-Gurion University of the Negev alumni Reichman University alumni