New appointment at the Institute for Zionist Strategy and National Security: Today (Sunday) the Institute announced that Meir Ben Shabat, former National Security Adviser and head of the National Security Council between 2017-2021, will be appointed Chairman of the Institute in Jerusalem.
The Mossad, established in 2005 as the “Zionist Strategy Institute”, operates as an independent research institute whose goal is “to contribute to the prosperity of Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people, while maintaining its values as a Jewish and democratic state.” Among the institute’s founders were Israel Harel and attorney Yoel Golubansky. Until 2019, it was headed by MK and former minister, Dr. Yoaz Handel
One of the architects of the Avraham agreements and the former head of the MLA
The new chairman, Ben Shabbat, was one of the architects of the “Abraham Accords” and the one who headed Israel’s official delegations to the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan. He managed Israel’s strategic dialogue with the United States. He received the US Department of Defense award for “excellent service to the public” (the highest award given by the Department of Defense to a non-US citizen) for “leading the relationship between Israel and the US to historic heights and unprecedented achievements”.
Ben Shabbat with Trump’s adviser, Jared Kushner (Photo: Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)
In addition, he also managed the political contacts with Russia and coordinated the contacts with Egypt, Europe, and Asia. Prior to his position in the Military Intelligence Service, he served for 28 years in the General Security Service and held three positions at a rank equivalent to a general in the IDF: head of the cyber division, head of the national division for counter-terrorism and espionage and research and policy, as well as the head of the southern region. In the last two years, he served as a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies next to Tel Aviv University.
He currently also serves as the Chairman of the Public Council of the Religious Zionist Center, as a member of the Advisory Council of the SIBF Investment Fund, as a member of the Educational-Spiritual Council of the AMIT Education Network, as the Chairman of the Committee for Social Cohesion at the National Institute for Shabbat, Society, and the Economy, and as a writer of articles Commentary for the newspaper Israel Hayom
“The institute will deal with the multitude of security issues from Iran to the Palestinians”
After the appointment, Ben-Shabbat said: “The many complex challenges facing Israel in the immediate and long term require investing in the development of a realistic approach to national security and its assimilation into the thinking and planning processes of the various systems. We will use our abilities within the institute to contribute to this, and bring about the continued prosperity of Israel As a Jewish and democratic state. The institute will deal with the multitude of security issues on the agenda, from Iran to the Palestinians, and from governments in the Negev and Galilee to the war on Zionist consciousness in Israel and abroad.”