Yuval Diskin

Yuval Diskin (Hebrew: יובל דיסקין; born June 11, 1956[1]) is a former Director of the Israeli Internal Security Service Shabak (frequently referred to in English as the "Shin Bet"), serving as its 13th director from 2005 to 2011. He was appointed by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, and later served under subsequent Prime Ministers Ehud Olmert and Benjamin Netanyahu.

Yuval Diskin
Born (1956-06-11) June 11, 1956
Givatayim, Israel
NationalityIsraeli
OccupationIntelligence officer
Espionage activity
AllegianceIsrael
Service branchShabak
Service years1978–2011
RankDirector-General

Career in the secret service, 1978-2011

In 1990, he was appointed head of department in Shabak's Counter Terrorism Division, which was responsible for the collection and analysis of intelligence and carrying out operations based on information received. In 1993 he was entrusted, by Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and then-director general of the Shabak Yaakov Peri, to establish ties with the Palestinian security forces as part of the Oslo Peace Accord.[2]

On May 15, 2005, he was appointed by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to replace Avi Dichter as the Director of the Shabak.

During his tenure as Director, Diskin led the development of the Shabak's cyber capabilities. These counter-cyberterrorism capabilities are both offensive—preventing terrorist and suicide attacks to the point of their termination in Israel.[3]

In 2009, in an unusual act, the Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu requested Diskin to extend his service, due to his integral and unique role in maintaining the national security of Israel.[4]

On May 15, 2011, Diskin was replaced as Director by his former deputy, Yoram Cohen.

In February 2015, Avi Primor, ex ambassador to Germany, introduced Diskin as the head of Diskin Advanced Technologies to Ferdinand Piëch, VW-CEO "as a favor". As a result of the meeting Diskin and Piëch founded a company named Cymotive Technologies in Herzliya, with 40% ownership through VW´s AutoVision, and 60% by Diskin Advanced Technologies, to close cybersecurity gaps of linked cars. Primor told Piëch about the impending dieselgate.[5]

Views and opinions

In January 2013, prior to Israel's parliamentary elections, Diskin harshly criticized Binyamin Netanyahu´s leadership.[6]

Diskin, along with former Mossad Director Meir Dagan and former IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi, have been highly critical of the diplomatic positions of Prime Minister Netanyahu's coalition; since his retirement from the Shabak, he has spoken on a number of occasions on his view of the need for diplomatic progress vis-à-vis the Palestinian Authority and the wider Arab world.[7]

Honors

In 2012, Diskin was selected by Foreign Policy magazine as one of the Top 100 Global Thinkers for his standout contribution to the intellectual debate of foreign policy.[8]

In 2012, Diskin, along with the other living former directors of the Shabak, was featured in a documentary film, The Gatekeepers in which he discussed some of the main events of his tenure in the Shabak and identified as a fluent speaker of Palestinian Arabic.[9]

References
  1. Yuval Diskin appointed ISA director
  2. Al Kotzo Shel Yod, Yedioth Ahronoth, 27.5.2011 (Hebrew)
  3. Shabak Official Website
  4. Diskin service extended, Ynet 25.10.2009
  5. "Treffen mit Piëch: Israelischer Geheimdienst in VW-Abgasskandal involviert?" (in German). FOCUS Online. 9 February 2017. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  6. "Former Israeli Security Chief Calls Netanyahu a Poor Leader". New York Times. January 4, 2013.
  7. "Ex-Israeli Security Chief Diskin: 'All the Conditions Are There for an Explosion'". Der Spiegel. June 24, 2014.
  8. 2012 FP Top 100 Global Thinkers
  9. The Gatekeepers (2012)
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