Shin Bet Sherut haBitachon haKlali ( , General Security Service ) , better known by the acronym Shabak ( , , ) , in English as the Israel Security Agency ( ISA ) or the Shin Bet ( a two - letter Hebrew abbreviation of the name ) , is Israel ' s internal security service . Its motto is " " Magen VeLo Yera ' e " " ( , lit . " Defender that shall not be seen " or " The unseen shield " ) . It is one of three principal organizations of the Israeli Intelligence Community , alongside Aman ( military intelligence ) and the Mossad ( foreign intelligence service ) . Shin Bet ' s special operations unit is Yamas . Organization . Shabak is believed to have three operational wings : Although a security agency , it is not a part of the Israeli Ministry of Defense , and its chief answers directly to the Prime Minister of Israel . Duties and roles . Shabak ' s duties are safeguarding state security , exposing terrorist rings , interrogating terror suspects , providing intelligence for counter - terrorism operations in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip , counter - espionage , personal protection of senior public officials , securing important infrastructure and government buildings , and safeguarding Israeli airlines and overseas embassies . History . With the Israeli declaration of independence in 1948 , the Shabak was founded as a branch of the Israel Defense Forces and was initially headed by Isser Harel ( the father of Israeli Intelligence , who later headed the Mossad ) . Responsibility for Shabak activity was later moved from the IDF to the office of the prime minister . During the 1948 Arab - Israeli war , Shabak ' s responsibilities included only internal security affairs . In February 1949 ( a short while before the end of the war ) , its responsibilities were extended to counter - espionage . One of the Shabak ' s leading successes was obtaining a copy of the secret speech made by Nikita Khrushchev in 1956 , in which he denounced Stalin . A Polish edition of the speech was provided to the Israeli embassy in Warsaw by the boyfriend of the secretary of a Polish communist official . The Shabak ' s Polish liaison officer conveyed the copy to Israel . The Israeli government then decided to share the information with the United States , which published it with Israeli approval . On the other hand , a study published in 2013 by Matitiahu Mayzel casts doubt on the story , arguing that the speech was not secret and that it was conveyed to the West by multiple sources , including Soviet political and intelligence agencies . A notable achievement in counter - espionage was the 1961 capture of Israel Beer , who was revealed to be a Soviet spy . Beer was a Lieutenant Colonel in the reserves , a senior security commentator and close friend of Ben - Gurion and reached high Israeli circles . Beer was tried and sentenced to ten years in prison ( later extended by the Supreme Court to fifteen years , following his appeal ) , where he died . A year before , Kurt Sitte , a Christian German from the Sudetenland and a professor in the Technion , was revealed as a Czechoslovakia n spy . In 1967 , an Egyptian - Israeli double agent , Rif ' at al Gamal / Jacques Bitton , gave Egypt false information about Israel ' s battle plans , claiming it would begin with ground operations . The Egyptians thus left their aircraft on open runways , which enabled the Israel Air Force to knock out Egypt ' s air force within three hours of the outbreak of the Six - Day War . Operation Yated , as it was later known , is considered one of the most successful deceptions in Israeli intelligence history , on a par with Britain ' s Operation Mincemeat during World War II . After the war , monitoring terrorist activity in the West Bank and Gaza Strip become a major part of Shabak ' s mission . During 1984 – 1986 , Shabak experienced a major crisis following the Kav 300 affair in which four terrorists hijacked a bus . Two of the hijackers were killed in an ensuing standoff , the other two were killed shortly after being taken into custody by Shabak officers , who later covered up the event and conspired to frame a senior IDF officer . Following the affair , Shabak head Avraham Shalom was forced to resign . The Landau Commission , set up to investigate Shabak interrogation methods , criticized the organization and established guidelines to regulate what forms of physical pressure could be used on prisoners . In 1995 , the Shin Bet failed to protect the Israeli prime minister , Yitzhak Rabin , who was assassinated by a right - wing Israeli radical Yigal Amir . Shin Bet had discovered Amir ' s plans , and a Shin Bet agent was sent to monitor Amir , and reported that Amir was not a threat . Following the assassination , the Shabak director , Carmi Gillon , resigned preemptively . Later , the Shamgar Commission pointed to serious flaws in the personal security unit . Another source of embarrassment and criticism was the violent , provocative and inciting behavior of Avishai Raviv , an informer of the Shabak ' s Jewish Unit during the time leading up to the assassination . Later , Raviv was acquitted of the charges that he encouraged Yigal Amir to kill Yitzhak Rabin . A few months after the Rabin assassination , Hamas chief bombmaker Yahya Ayyash was assassinated in a targeted killing in which an explosive device was planted in his cellular phone . Gillon was replaced by Israeli Navy admiral Ami Ayalon , who helped to restore the organizational morale , after the debacle of the Rabin assassination and rehabilitate its public image . In 2000 , Ayalon was replaced by Avi Dichter , an ex - Sayeret Matkal commando and an experienced Shabak agent , tightened the working relationship with the Israel Defense Forces and Israeli police . Dichter was in charge when the al - Aqsa Intifada erupted . He turned Shabak into a prominent player in the war on terrorism after the collapse of the 2000 Camp David Summit . In November 2003 , four former heads of Shin Bet ( Avraham Shalom , Yaakov Peri , Carmi Gillon and Ami Ayalon ) called upon the Government of Israel to reach a peace agreement with the Palestinians . In May 2005 , Dichter was replaced by Yuval Diskin . Accountability . Former Shin Bet director special assistant Barak Ben - Zur said that since 1948 ( or more particularly 1957 ) the group has been brought under control of the Knesset to monitor it ’ s budget . In May 2002 , a landmark was set when Shin Bet was brought under the purview of the Knesset Foreign and Security Committee , which could investigate whether it is working within legal boundaries which , in turn , involves the Constitution , Law and Justice Committee is also involved . The government legal adviser approves Shin Bet activities , the Political - Security Cabinet receives reports directly from the Shin Bet director and that every detainee has the right to submit a complaint . Information gathering and interrogation methods . Shabak also extracts information by interrogating suspects , and there is a history of concern over its methods . In 1987 , after complaints about excessive use of violence , the Landau Commission drew up guidelines condoning " moderate physical pressure " when necessary , but in 1994 , State Comptroller Miriam Ben - Porat found that these regulations were violated and senior GSS commanders did not prevent it . Later , in 1999 , the Israeli Supreme Court heard several petitions against Shabak methods , including ( 1 ) " forceful and repeated shaking of the suspect ' s upper torso , in a manner which causes the neck and head to swing rapidly , " ( 2 ) manacling of the suspect in a painful " Shabach position " for a long period of time , ( 3 ) the " frog crouch " consisting of " consecutive , periodical crouches on the tips of one ' s toes , " and other methods . The Court ruled that Shabak did not have the authority , even under the defense of " necessity , " to employ such methods . Shabak claims it now uses only psychological means , although B ' Tselem and Amnesty International continue to accuse Shabak of employing physical methods that amount to torture under international conventions . Shabak has also worked closely with the Israeli Air Force in " targeted killings " of field commanders and senior leaders of Palestinian militant factions of Hamas , the Islamic Jihad , the Al - Aqsa Martyrs Brigades , and Fatah . These killings are usually done by helicopter gunship s . Both the IAF commanders and Shabak agents sit together in the command center to monitor the operation . Shabak ' s task is to give intelligence about when and where the target will be available for a strike and then to react to IAF drone feedback to ensure the men at the location are indeed the correct targets . Visibility . Once considered a commitment to lifelong anonymity and even invisibility in Israeli society , today a Shabak agent who achieves high rank in the service , especially the director , is considered a candidate for membership in the top brass of the Israeli government and business community . This process follows a trend started by ex - generals and colonels of the Israel Defense Forces , the trailblazers including Moshe Dayan , Ariel Sharon , and Yitzhak Rabin . In the Shabak and the foreign intelligence Mossad service , the trend showed up much later ( during the mid - 1990s ) , even though Isser Harel ( who served as head of both services ) and Meir Amit of the Mossad both served as lawmakers . Ex - Shabak directors today are increasingly visible as candidates for higher office . Yaakov Peri became the chairman of Bank HaMizrahi in 2002 , and also became a highly visible guest on television programs . Carmi Gillon serves as Chairman of the Local Council of Mevaseret Zion , a Jerusalem suburb , while Avi Dichter and Ami Ayalon were at one time leading candidates for defense minister ( Dichter for the Kadima party formed by prime minister Ariel Sharon , Ayalon on the Labour party ticket ) . Dichter eventually became Minister of Internal Security in the government led by Ehud Olmert . Ayalon has attracted widespread following as a co - initiator with Palestinian dignitary Sari Nusseibeh of the non - governmental Peoples ' Voice initiative to petition the governments in Israel and the Palestinian Authority for a permanent settlement . In 2007 , the service launched its first ever public recruitment drive , unveiling a " slick Web site " and buying on - line ads in Israel and abroad in a campaign aimed at " attract [ ing ] top - tier computer programmers " to its " cutting - edge " IT division . On March 18 , 2008 , it was announced that Shabak ' s official website would also offer a blog , where four of its agents would discuss anonymously how they were recruited , and what sort of work they perform ; they would also answer questions sent in by members of the public . The decision to launch the blog was made by the Shin Bet ' s top brass , including head Yuval Diskin , and is part of an attempt to attract high - tech workers to the agency ' s growing IT department . According to Shabak officers , the Web site and blog are aimed also at promoting a more accessible and positive public image for the secret service , long associated with " dark , undercover and even violent activity " . In 2012 , six former heads of the Shin Bet ( Shalom , Peri , Gillon , Ayalon , Dichter , and Diskin ) featured in a documentary film , " The Gatekeepers " , and discussed the main events of their tenures .