Yosef Harmelin
Yosef Harmelin (1922-1994) was twice head of Israel's Shin Bet security agency.
Early Life
Harmelin was born in Vienna, Austria, in 1922. He was a member of the Zionist youth movement "Young Maccabi".[1] Following the Anschluss with Germany, his parents fled to Mexico.[2]
Harmelin instead immigrated to Israel in 1939, with the Youth Immigration program, and arrived at the Ben Shemen youth village, and later became a member of Kibbutz Neve Yam. In 1948 he joined the IDF and fought in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.[1]
First period at Shin Bet
Harmelin joined the Shin Bet in 1949 and served in several senior positions. He was appointed Deputy Director in 1960, and Director in 1964.[1]
Harmelin supported the abolition of military administration in Arab areas of Israel in 1966, with the aim of encouraging Arabs to integrate into Israeli society.[1]
Harmelin represented Shin Bet at a Varash meeting on 19 June 1967, where the agency acquired responsibility for the occupied territories conquered in the Six Day War.[3]
In 1971, Harmelin agreed that his men would lie to the Israeli courts.[4]
He retired in 1974.[1]
Subsequent career
In the twelve years between his two periods in the ISA, Harmelin served as chairman of an oil company; Israeli ambassador in Iran and South Africa; and the supervisor of the security establishment in the office of the State Comptroller.[1]
His term as ambassador to Iran ended with his evacuation via a US aircraft during the Islamic Revolution of 1979.[5]
Return to Shin Bet
Harmelin returned as head of the Shin Bet in 1986 in order to rehabilitate the organization following the "Bus 300" Affair and the Landau Commission.[1][6] His appointment, despite the fact that many of the practices condemned by the Landau Report had developed during his first term, was intended to restore morale at the agency.[7]
Following the outbreak of the first Intifada in late 1987, Harmelin reported that Shin Bet's informer network was crumbling, and sought to divert blame to politicians for failing to find a resolution. he set up a new department within Shin Bet monitoring political trends among the Palestinians.[8]
He retired once more in 1988. He died in 1994 at the age of 72.[1]
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Yosef Harmelin, Israel Security Agency, accessed 9 April 2013.
- ↑ Yossi Melman and Dan Raviv, Every Spy a Prince: The Secret History of Israel's Intelligence Community, Houghton Mifflin, 1991, p.167.
- ↑ Yossi Melman and Dan Raviv, Every Spy a Prince: The Secret History of Israel's Intelligence Community, Houghton Mifflin, 1991, p.168.
- ↑ Yossi Melman and Dan Raviv, Every Spy a Prince: The Secret History of Israel's Intelligence Community, Houghton Mifflin, 1991, p.297.
- ↑ Yossi Melman and Dan Raviv, Every Spy a Prince: The Secret History of Israel's Intelligence Community, Houghton Mifflin, 1991, p.299.
- ↑ Yossi Melman and Dan Raviv, Every Spy a Prince: The Secret History of Israel's Intelligence Community, Houghton Mifflin, 1991, p.299.
- ↑ Yossi Melman and Dan Raviv, Every Spy a Prince: The Secret History of Israel's Intelligence Community, Houghton Mifflin, 1991, p.299.
- ↑ Yossi Melman and Dan Raviv, Every Spy a Prince: The Secret History of Israel's Intelligence Community, Houghton Mifflin, 1991, pp.386-287.
