Urim SIGINT Base is an Israeli intelligence-gathering installation, supposedly part of the

Unit 8200 Unit 8200 ( he, יחידה 8200, ''Yehida shmone -Matayim''- "Unit eight - two hundred") is an Israeli Intelligence Corps unit of the Israel Defense Forces responsible for collecting signal intelligence (SIGINT) and code decryption. Military p ...

, the signal intelligence unit of the Intelligence Corps of the Israel Defense Forces. It is located in the

Negev The Negev or Negeb (; he, הַנֶּגֶב, hanNegév; ar, ٱلنَّقَب, an-Naqab) is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The region's largest city and administrative capital is Beersheba (pop. ), in the north. At its southe ...

desert approximately 30 km from

Beersheba Beersheba or Beer Sheva, officially Be'er-Sheva ( he, בְּאֵר שֶׁבַע, ''Bəʾēr Ševaʿ'', ; ar, بئر السبع, Biʾr as-Sabʿ, Well of the Oath or Well of the Seven), is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. ...

, a couple of kilometres north of the

kibbutz A kibbutz ( he, קִבּוּץ / , lit. "gathering, clustering"; plural: kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1909, was Degania. Today, farming h ...

Urim In the Hebrew Bible, the Urim ( he, ''ʾŪrīm'', "lights") and the Thummim ( he, ''Tummīm'', meaning uncertain, possibly "perfections") are elements of the ''hoshen'', the breastplate worn by the High Priest attached to the ephod. They are ...

. Until articles were published about the base in 2010, it was not known to the outside world. Equivalents of Unit 8200 are the

Government Communications Headquarters Government Communications Headquarters, commonly known as GCHQ, is an intelligence and security organisation responsible for providing signals intelligence (SIGINT) and information assurance (IA) to the government and armed forces of the ...

(GCHQ) of Britain and the

National Security Agency The National Security Agency (NSA) is a national-level intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collectio ...

(NSA) of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

. Each of these signals interception spy agencies is far bigger in size than the traditional intelligence agencies of their respective countries.

History

Created decades ago to monitor

Intelsat Intelsat S.A. (formerly INTEL-SAT, INTELSAT, Intelsat) is a multinational satellite services provider with corporate headquarters in Luxembourg and administrative headquarters in Tysons Corner, Virginia, United States. Originally formed as ...

satellites that relay international telephone calls, Urim was expanded to cover maritime communications ( Inmarsat), and continued being expanded to intercept more communications satellites. Duncan Campbell, an intelligence specialist speculated that Urim is "akin to the UK-USA pact's

Echelon ECHELON, originally a secret government code name, is a surveillance program ( signals intelligence/SIGINT collection and analysis network) operated by the five signatory states to the UKUSA Security Agreement:Given the 5 dialects that ...

satellite interception ground stations." The Echelon system was established by the United States, Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand as a global network of signal interception stations.

Function

The base has a row of satellite dishes that are allegedly able to intercept phone calls, emails, and other communications from anywhere in the Middle East, Europe, Africa, and Asia, as well as antennas that can monitor shipping. There are also numerous barracks and operations buildings lined along the road that leads to the base, which is protected by high security gates, fences, and guard dogs. It is said that computers at Urim detect words and phone numbers of interest from intercepted phone calls, e-mails, etc. which are then transferred to Unit 8200's headquarters at

Herzliya Herzliya ( ; he, הֶרְצְלִיָּה ; ar, هرتسليا, Hirtsiliyā) is an affluent city in the central coast of Israel, at the northern part of the Tel Aviv District, known for its robust start-up and entrepreneurial culture. In it ...

. At the HQ, the information is translated and submitted as necessary to IDF headquarters or to Israel's intelligence agencies, such as 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 ...

References

External links

Big Ears: 'Largest' secret spy hub uncovered in Israel
RT, 20 January 2011 * Note installations can be seen on the satellite image, but do not appear in map view. {{coord, 31.311262, 34.542689, type:landmark, display=title Military installations of Israel Signals intelligence installations