The National Security Council (NSC) ( ''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 national security for the Israeli Prime Minister and Government. However, national security decisions typically made by

national security council A national security council (NSC) is usually an executive branch governmental body responsible for coordinating policy on national security issues and advising chief executives on matters related to national security. An NSC is often headed by a n ...

s in other countries are handled by the Security Cabinet. The Council draws its authority from the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

and operates according to guidelines from the Prime Minister. The NSC was established in 1999 by the office of

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Benjamin 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 ...

following Government Resolution 4889, in the framework of drawing lessons from the

Yom Kippur War The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was fought from 6 to 25 October 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states led by Egypt and S ...

. Its responsibilities were anchored in law starting in July 2008, partly as a response to the Second Lebanon War.

Basis for operations

Article 7 of the Government Law of 2001 states that "the Government will have a staff, established by the Prime Minister, to provide professional consulting in the fields of national security; the Prime Minister is authorized to entrust the staff with additional consulting fields." Government Resolution 4889, dated March 7, 1999, established the National Security Council. The Government resolution specified, among others, that: * The objective of the NSC is to serve as a centralized advisory body to the Prime Minister and the Government regarding issues of national security. * The NSC derives its authority from the Government and operates in accordance with directives issued by the Prime Minister.

Roles

The National Security Council is the Prime Minister's and the Government's staff forum in the field of national security. The roles of the NSC, as stipulated in the Government Resolution, are as follows: * To hold senior council forums for the Prime Minister and the Government regarding issues of national security. * To coordinate integrative assessments of processes and trends in all aspects of national security. * To direct integrative staff operations between offices and authorities dealing with national security in order to increase coordination and integration between them. * To prepare for deliberations by the government, ministerial committee for national security and the Prime Minister. * To advise the government on policies relating to national security. * To plan, based on a long-term perspective, national security components, with the assistance of existing planning bodies in State offices and organizations dealing with national security. * To follow up and provide updates regarding activities and implementation of resolutions related to national security. * To maintain coordination and cooperation with parallel national security authorities in selected countries. Among the Council's functions are: strategic advisement to the Prime Minister, offering security recommendations to the government, joint direction and coordinations of the

security Security is protection from, or resilience against, potential harm (or other unwanted coercion). Beneficiaries (technically referents) of security may be persons and social groups, objects and institutions, ecosystems, or any other entity or ...

arms as well as inspection and supervision of decision-making related to the security bodies. Other functions include long-term planning of security approaches, and maintaining cooperative and coordinative relations with the national security elements of selected countries. The NSC also maintains high-level diplomatic communications with world powers.

Major areas of activity

The NSC formulates alternatives for Israeli policy on the political process and relationships with: *

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

countries, especially with the Palestinians,

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

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 ...

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

and other countries. * Great powers: the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

and

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. * Key countries:

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

and

* Major international organizations such as the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

and

OECD The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; , OCDE) is an international organization, intergovernmental organization with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and international trade, wor ...

. The Council has engaged in issues such as the planning of the West Bank barrier and supervision over its implementation, the Gaza disengagement plan, and the agreement with

over the Philadelphi Route. A new area of activity relates to energy issues, based on a comprehensive national security perspective, including: * Energy providers * Strategic reserves * Source combination

Structure

The National Security Council is part of the Prime Minister's Office and reports to him directly about issues related to national security. The Council comprises three wings: Security Policy, Foreign Policy, and the Counter-Terrorism Bureau. It has two advisors: legal and economic. Since the end of December 2006, the office of the head of the NSC and the staff of the Foreign Policy Division, the Security Division and the Legal Advisor have been located in the Prime Minister's building in Jerusalem. The remaining staff of the NSC and the Counter-Terrorism Bureau headquarters are located at the NSC facility in Ramat Hasharon. The Council's work is considered secret, and is done outside the public's eye. Its authority is vague and the Prime Minister is not obligated to accept its recommendations, unlike with those of the

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

, for example.

Head

The first National Security Advisor and Head of NSC was General (in reserve) David Ivri. The current Head is Tzachi Hanegbi. Historical heads were: * David Ivri, 1999–2000 * Gideon Sheffer, (Acting) 2000 * Uzi Dayan, 2000–2002 * Ephraim Halevi, 2002–2003 * Israel Michaeli, 2003–2004 * Giora Eiland, 2004–2006 * Ilan Mizrahi, 2006–2007 * Dani Arditi, (Acting) 2007–2009 * Uzi Arad, 2009–2011 * Yaakov Amidror, 2011–2013 * Yossi Cohen, 2013–2016 * Yaakov Nagel, (Acting) 2016–2017 * Eytan Ben-David, 2017 * Meir Ben-Shabbat, 2017–2021 * Eyal Hulata, 2021–2023 * Tzachi Hanegbi, 2023–present

Foreign Policy Wing

The National Security Council's Foreign Policy Division is in charge of planning, integration and coordination of policy on major issues of national security. The Division's roles: * Formulation of political situation assessments * Formulation of recommendations for Israeli policies * Conducting strategic dialogs with National Security Councils of leading countries

References

External links

Official website of the NSC
{{Israel Defense Forces Israeli Security Forces

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 ...

1999 establishments in Israel