Ya'akov Peri (; born 20 February 1944) is a former head of the

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 security agency

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 ...

and formerly a member of the

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 ...

for Yesh Atid. He headed Shin Bet between 1988 and 1994. He was the first Shin Bet head born in Israel. After his service with Shin Bet he entered the business world. He became an MK in 2013 and was appointed Minister of Science, Technology and Space, a post he held until resigning on 2 December 2014. He resigned from the Knesset in February 2018.

Biography

Peri was born in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

during the Mandate era, and grew up 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 ...

. Before he changed his name, he was born as Yaakov Pirzoner. His parents were Yiddish speakers, originally from Poland. He was exempted from service 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 ...

due to a systemic heart murmur. Peri attended 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. ...

and

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 ...

, gaining a BA.Yaakov Peri
Israeli Security Agency Peri started his career as an orchestral trumpeter before joining the Shin Bet. In 1966 he joined Shin Bet, and initially trained to be a field officer working in the Arab sector. In 1972 he was appointed to a senior position in the Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria Command, and in 1975 became head of the Shin Bet's training division. In 1978 he became head of its Northern Command, before returning to the Jerusalem, Judah and Samaria Command to head it in 1981. In 1987 he became Deputy Director of the Shin Bet, before becoming Director the following year. During his period in charge, he introduced structural changes to address problems that arose during the

First Intifada The First Intifada (), also known as the First Palestinian Intifada, was a sustained series of Nonviolent resistance, non-violent protests, acts of civil disobedience, Riot, riots, and Terrorism, terrorist attacks carried out by Palestinians ...

, and address with the new security situation in Israel in the wake of the

Oslo Accords The Oslo Accords are a pair of interim agreements between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO): the Oslo I Accord, signed in Washington, D.C., in 1993; and the Oslo II Accord, signed in Taba, Egypt, in 1995. They marked the st ...

. In 1994 he took leave to study at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, where he finished a short business management course. The following year he retired from Shin Bet. He later went into business, and also taught at Harvard.Gabe Fisher
"All the kingmaker's men, and women"
''Times of Israel'', 23 January 2013 He was CEO of Cellcom Israel from 1995 until 2003, and in 2012 he featured in a documentary film, '' The Gatekeepers'' and discussed the main events of his tenure in the Shin Bet. He joined the new Yesh Atid party prior to the 2013 Knesset elections. He was elected to the Knesset, after which he was appointed Minister of Science, Technology and Space. He was placed fifth on the party's list for the

2015 elections Africa * 2015 Beninese parliamentary election 26 April 2015 * 2015 Burkinabé general election 29 November 2015 * 2015 Burundian legislative election 29 June 2015 * 2015 Burundian presidential election 21 July 2015 * 2015-16 Central African gene ...

, and was re-elected as the party won 11 seats. In February 2018 Peri resigned from the Knesset, after two investigative reports on the Uvda television program by Omri Assenheim exposed the fact that he had never served in the IDF and alleged that he leaked information on a corruption investigation to

Aryeh Deri Aryeh Makhlouf Deri (; ), also Arie Deri, Arye Deri, or Arieh Deri (born 17 February 1959), is an Israeli politician and one of the founders of the Shas political party who served as the Vice Prime Minister, Minister of Health, and Minister ...

when he was head of Shin Bet. Peri denied having leaked information to Deri, but after initially claiming that he had never hidden the fact he did not do military service, he admitted to lying for decades about having done military service, claiming that he had lied due to the social stigma of not serving at the time. He was replaced by Pnina Tamano-Shata. After his resignation, Peri was appointed president of the Israeli security and investigation firm, CGI group. In December 2019, CGI Group was hired to help find the 18th century jewels and diamonds stolen in a heist from the Dresden Green Vault museum in November 2019. The German media called the daring robbery, "the largest robbery of historic jewels in modern Germany. In January 2020, the Israeli firm received several letters offering to sell them two of the stolen jewelry. The CGI Group says its investigators were offered the items via the dark web. Peri is a fluent

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

speaker, having learned it in school and during his Shin Bet service.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Peri, Yaakov 1944 births Politicians from Tel Aviv Ashkenazi Jews in Mandatory Palestine Israeli Ashkenazi Jews Hebrew University of Jerusalem alumni Tel Aviv University alumni Directors of the Shin Bet Harvard University alumni Harvard University faculty Yesh Atid politicians Ministers of science of Israel Members of the 19th Knesset (2013–2015) Living people Members of the 20th Knesset (2015–2019)