Weeks after the new government was sworn in, national security adviser and head of the National Security Council Mir Ben-Shabat announced on Sunday that he would step down after four years in the role.
Ben-Shabat informed Prime Minister Naftali Bennett of his decision on Wednesday, and he will remain in the position until the end of August, a statement from the prime minister’s office said.
“With the formation of the government, the head of the National Security Council responded to a request for the Prime Minister to remain in office to enable stability and functional continuity. Through this, Ben-Shabbat appointed the Prime Minister and his staff to the post. Assisted in taking over,” the PMO said.
The statement said Bennett would appoint a new national security adviser in the coming weeks “while maintaining an orderly transition process with the outgoing head of the National Security Council”.
Bennett thanked Ben-Shabat for “many years of contributing to Israel’s security in a professional and successful manner”.
The prime minister said that Ben-Shabat “served in several positions and in all of them he demonstrated impressive success using a deep understanding of the political and security challenges facing the State of Israel.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) and National Security Council Chairman Meir Ben-Shabat, at a news conference at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem on April 2, 2018. (hadas man/flash 90)
Ben-Shabat was appointed by then-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as head of the NSC in 2017, a position in which he oversaw Israel’s normalization agreements with the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan.
He was heavily involved in the government’s pandemic response, as well as keynote talks With Washington regarding the Iranian nuclear deal.
Ben-Shabat was considered a close ally of Netanyahu some charge That he had become a political weapon for the Prime Minister.
Responding to Ben-Shabat’s announcement of stepping down, Netanyahu said on Wednesday that he would like to thank Ben-Shabat “from the bottom of my heart” for “his exceptional service to the security of Israel.”
Now the leader of the opposition said in a statement, “Mir helped me greatly to ensure our security and our future, and to achieve the historic peace agreements between Israel and the Arab countries.”
Ben-Shabat had previously served in the Shin Bet since January 1989. His focus was on Hamas and the Gaza Strip, directing most of the service’s activities against the terrorist group since the late 1990s. His position as head of the Southern District of the Service was equivalent to that of a military general.
Adviser to the US President Jared Kushner (R) speaks as he stands next to the head of Israel’s National Security Council, Meir Ben-Shabat (L) at Abu Dhabi airport on August 31, 2020. (NIR ILIAS / POOL / AFP)
Ben-Shabbat personally led the Shin Bet efforts in Gaza during the 2008–2009 Operation Cast Lead campaign. The 54-year-old father of four children also headed the Security Service’s Cyber Directorate and its National Directorate for Countering Terrorism and Espionage.
Amos Yadlin, the director of the Bennett Institute for National Security Studies, is said to be considering tapping Israel’s National Security Council as the next chairman, Channel 13 reported earlier this month.
Yadlin served as chief of IDF Military Intelligence and was Washington’s military attaché. He was the centre-left Zionist Union candidate for defense minister before the 2015 election and is seen as more moderate than Hawkish Bennett.
Bennett has strongly criticized the performance of the National Security Council during the 2014 Gaza War, saying it did not fulfill its role of providing the cabinet with various options to consider.
