Shabtai Shavit

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Shabtai Shavit
Born(1939-07-17)17 July 1939
Died5 September 2023(2023-09-05) (aged 84)
Sicily, Italy
NationalityIsraeli
Alma materHarvard University[1]
OccupationDirector of Mossad
Espionage activity
AllegianceState of Israel
Service branchMossad
Service years1964–1996

Shabtai Shavit (Hebrew: שבתי שביט; 17 July 1939 – 5 September 2023) was an Israeli intelligence officer who served as the Director-General of the Mossad from 1989 to 1996.

Biography[edit]

Shavit first joined the Israeli Navy, where he later went on to serve in the Sayeret Matkal. From 1978 to 1979, he was military governor of the Southern Command.[2] In 1964, he joined the Mossad,[3] where he worked his way up to director general.

After retiring from the Mossad, he spent five years as CEO of Maccabi Health Services Group. From 2001, he was chairman of the Institute for Counter-Terrorism at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, Israel.[3] He was president and CEO of EMG Israel and chairman of Athena. Shavit continued to work in government, including as advisor to the Israeli National Security Council, advisor to the Knesset Committee on Foreign Affairs and National Security Sub-Committee on Intelligence, and as a member of the N.Y.F.D. Task Force for Future Preparedness Against Terrorism.[2]

In an article by reporter Judah Ari Gross in The Times of Israel dated 17 May 2017, Shavit criticized President Donald Trump, stating his actions "put international information sharing at risk, in light of reports that the US President divulged classified intelligence to Russia." The former spy chief went on to accuse Trump of "entering situations without first being properly briefed, and then unwittingly violating the unwritten codes of conduct of intelligence."[4]

Shavit died on 5 September 2023, at the age of 84.[5]

Autobiography[edit]

  • Shabtai Shavit, Head of Mossad, Yedioth books 2018 (in Hebrew)

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Shavit, Shabtai".
  2. ^ a b Jerusalem Summit Profile Archived 19 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 4 March 2007.
  3. ^ a b "Targeting Terrorism, Newsweek, 17 October 2001. Retrieved 4 March 2007.
  4. ^ Gross, Judah Ari. "Former Israeli spymasters rip into Trump, say Israel must reassess intel sharing". www.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
  5. ^ Former Mossad chief Shabtai Shavit dies at 84