Ram "Rami" Ben-Barak (, born 1 April 1958) is a former member of the Israeli security forces and an Israeli politician. He served as deputy director of the

Mossad Mossad ( , ), ; ar, الموساد, al-Mōsād, ; , short for ( he, המוסד למודיעין ולתפקידים מיוחדים, links=no), meaning 'Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations'. is the national intelligence agency ...

and director general of the

Ministry of Intelligence Services The Ministry of Intelligence ( he, משרד המודיעין ''Misrad HaModi'in'') is a government ministry in Israel. It oversees policies related to the operation of the intelligence organizations, the Mossad and the Shabak (Israel Security A ...

and the

Ministry of Strategic Affairs The Ministry of Strategic Affairs and Public Diplomacy ( he, המשרד לנושאים אסטרטגיים, ''HaMisrad LeNos'im Astrategi'im'') is an Israeli government ministry responsible for leading the campaign of expanding the Abraham Accords ...

. He has served as a member of 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 ...

for

Yesh Atid Yesh Atid ( he, יֵשׁ עָתִיד, , There Is a Future) is a liberal political party in Israel. Founded by Yair Lapid in 2012, it seeks to represent what it considers the centre of Israeli society: the secular middle class. It focuses pr ...

since April 2019.

Early life

Barak was born and raised in

Nahalal Nahalal ( he, נַהֲלָל) is a moshav in northern Israel. Covering 8.5 square kilometers, it falls under the jurisdiction of the Jezreel Valley Regional Council. In it had a population of . Nahalal is best known for its general layout, as d ...

, Israel, to a Jewish family. In 1976 he joined the IDF and served as a combat soldier and as an

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," ...

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 ...

commando 40_Commando.html" ;"title="Royal Marines from 40 Commando">Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin area of Afghanistan are pictured A commando is a combatant, or operative of an elite light infantry or special operations forc ...

unit. In his last position he served as commander of the Counter Terrorism Division until his release in 1981.

Career

In 1984 he joined

. In April 1991, he was arrested in

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ...

along with three other agents of the Mossad, posing as tourists during the operation to install listening devices at the Iranian embassy in Nicosia. They were convicted of

trespassing Trespass is an area of tort law broadly divided into three groups: trespass to the person, trespass to chattels, and trespass to land. Trespass to the person historically involved six separate trespasses: threats, assault, battery, wounding ...

, fined and returned to Israel. From 2009 to 2011 he served as deputy head of the Mossad. He was loaned to the IDF and served as coordinator of special operations. He served as an advisor to the Israeli Embassy in Washington and a visiting research fellow at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution. From November 2018 until he entered Israeli politics in April 2019, he was a member of the advisory board of Shibumi, an international business intelligence firm that was founded by veterans from Israel's intelligence community. Additionally, from January 2018 served as the chairman of the board at "Eye-Minders". On 15 January 2018, he announced he was joining the

party and became a member of the Knesset in April 2019.

Personal life

Ben-Barak studied at the National Defense College and political science at the

University of Haifa The University of Haifa ( he, אוניברסיטת חיפה Arabic: جامعة حيفا) is a university located on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. Founded in 1963, the University of Haifa received full academic accreditation in 1972, becoming I ...

, where he obtained an MA in government and national security. He is married with three children and lives in Nahalal.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ben-Barak, Ram 1958 births Living people 20th-century Israeli civil servants 20th-century Israeli military personnel 21st-century Israeli civil servants Blue and White (political alliance) politicians Israeli Jews Israeli officers Jewish Israeli politicians Jewish military personnel Members of the 21st Knesset (2019) Members of the 22nd Knesset (2019–2020) Members of the 23rd Knesset (2020–2021) Members of the 24th Knesset (2021–2022) Members of the 25th Knesset (2022–) People from Nahalal People of the Mossad University of Haifa alumni Yesh Atid politicians