“Iran and Hamas will not rest until they draw blood,” Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar said.
The Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) thwarted 172 substantial terror attacks in the last year, while failing to stop seven, the agency’s chief Ronen Bar said on Tuesday at an intelligence community awards ceremony.
According to Bar, the attacks the domestic spy agency prevented ranged from shooting, to bombs, to suicide attacks, each of which could have led to several civilian deaths.
He said that the Shin Bet’s fighters engaged in direct combat with enemy fighters in “Shechem [Nablus], Jenin and Jaffa,” among other places.
The mentioning of Jaffa went beyond the standard script which focuses on the West Bank and Gaza, but this past spring saw a wave of terror within Green Line Israel, including in Jaffa.
Prime Minister Yair Lapid credited the Shin Bet, along with the IDF and the police, with halting or mitigating the wave of terror.
“The field is boiling”
Bar warned that “the field is boiling” in reference to flashpoints between Israel and various adversaries.
“Hamas will not be quiet until it ignites Judea and Samaria” against Israel and “Iran will not be quiet until it succeeds at killing” Israelis or Jews in one or more locations in the ongoing conflict between the countries.
He said that the 14 awardees, 10 men and four women, were a critical part of the Shin Bet’s various arms for maintaining security and holding back the tidal wave of threats.
President Isaac Herzog said, “I am shocked anew every year by your daring and creativity,” saying the varied areas where the Shin Bet protects Israelis is complex, diverse and requires new ways of thinking which the awardees excel at.
He said that “usually we do not know or hear about your actions day and night, but so many people owe you their lives without knowing it.”
“Usually we do not know or hear about your actions day and night, but so many people owe you their lives without knowing it.”
President Isaac Herzog
Lapid added, “only those who are exposed to the full dark intelligence know how good you are” at preventing terror attacks.
“S,” who received an award for his success in recruiting spies in the West Bank and Gaza from Hamas and Islamic Jihad cells, said that the feeling of saving lives and protecting the country was what made it possible for them to complete dangerous and challenging missions on a 24 hours a day seven days a week basis.
Other honorees included “Y” who is the head of the cyber operational unit and led two specific crucial operations, including developing new technology applications that are expected to be used in future operations.
Additional honorees included “R,” who recruits spies in the Ramallah, Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria regions, “H,” who increased the agency’s information security architecture, “L” whose abilities to thwart cyberattacks were described as “mythical” and many others.