Sima Vaknin-Gil

Career

Sima Vaknin-Gil at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) on 24 January 2017 speaking in a panel discussion: BDS and Israel's Delegitimization in 2017: Where To? Uploaded to YouTube on 29 January 2017.

• Chief Censor, The State of Israel, Aug 2005 – Aug 2015.

• Ministry of Strategic Affairs and Public Diplomacy, Director General. December 2015 - June 2019

• • She states that this role involved “building the Ministry’s operational task force” which consisted of “combating Delegitimization of Israel and the BDS campaign. developing operational perceptions along with prevention and thwarting tools, while developing a positive campaign, creating action networks, initiating legislation, managing and raising budgets and donations and more.” Above this, the Ministry “aimed to coordinate and create a synergy among the pro-Israel factors … and operated with the civil society and with establishments in Israel and abroad.”

• SVG Strategic Consulting Company (Impact solutions), Sep 2019 –
  • On Oct 2015 the Israeli government enacted upon the need to take action against the de-legitimazation and boycott campaign , otherwise known as BDS, against the state of Israel and called upon the newly formed Ministry of strategic affairs and public diplomacy to lead the initiative. "I had the honor to form the Task force and together with wonderful people in the Ministry to direct the struggle against this false and vicious campaign", she wrote of the position.

• Strategic Impact Initiative, Sept 2020 - present
  • Strategic Impact Ltd was founded by Sima Vaknin Gill & Revital Yakin Krakovsky, as a global strategy and influence company.

SVG & RYK possess vast experience in strategy, intelligence and influence communications in both the public and private sectors. Both SVG & RYK had worked with government entities (local and international), global organizations, the corporate sector and non-profits. The company provides various services, among them developing strategy, tactics and tools needed to address the issue at hand, building and leading professional teams, from full task force to designated teams to address client needs. In this capacity SVG&RYK works with PR, advertising and creative agencies, as well as global polling and research firms. The company founders have enormous practical experience in crisis management from acute operational needs to brand and coalition building. RYK brings expertise in the full cycle of communications: Policy Change; Content Creation; Advertising Campaigns; Public Relation; Crisis Management; Media Partnership; Event & Conferences Planning. Over the years, we were the mastermind behind some of the leading campaigns and PR initiatives in both the Israeli, Jewish & international arena. SVG brings expertise in the full cycle of intelligence work, from monitoring and collection, through analysis process to execution and debrief. The company specialize in formulating and running ‘data and deep research-based’ action plans and large-scale influence campaigns. We work with cutting-edge intelligence companies as well as big data and cyber influence companies. SVG&RYK are universally connected in the Jewish world, from global and local organizations to community leadership and the philanthropic world – donors, family funds and foundation.

Education

• Haifa University

Master's degree, Field Of Study National Security Policy Studies 2004 – 2005

• National Defense College

graduate with greatest honors 2004 – 2005

• Tel Aviv University

Bachelor's degree Middle Eastern Studies and Political Science 1988 – 1990

Activities

The Electronic Intifada reports:

When Sima Vaknin-Gil took over as director-general of Israel’s Ministry of Strategic Affairs at the start of 2016, a crucial fact went largely unnoticed. For years, she had been a high-ranking officer with an Israeli spy agency. This means that for the last two years a former intelligence officer has been running Israel’s global war against BDS, the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement.

2016 Israeli American Council Conference

Vaknin-Gil spoke on a panel during the conference where she stated:

"We have three different sub-campaigns: Data gathering, working on activist organisations, money trail. This is something that only a country, with its resources, can do the best. We have FDD. We have others working on this.""

Affiliations

Vaknin-Gil is on the Board of Advisors at the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy

The institute received nearly half a million dollars direct from the Israeli Government in 2018. Although based in New York, USA where groups have to disclose foreign funding, the institute failed to do this claiming that their work was solely academic.

Vaknin-Gil has attended meetings held by ‘Concert Together for Israel’, a private company used by the state of Israel to front its campaign against the BDS movement.

In December 2018, she attended the 3rd Steering committee meeting of the company. The following is what was discussed

• started working in Europe
• begin working in coordination with 10+ online pro-Israel groups
• building a high-tech platform, providing info to pro-Israel groups
• building a strategy
• building global tool for media campaigns
• setting up media centers in Europe

Leaked emails and documents

According to emails from a cache attributed to Benny Gantz that was released in 2025 by the hacking group Handala, which Distributed Denial of Secrets (DDoSecrets) says is "believed to have ties to Iranian intelligence", and published by DDoSecrets. The authenticity of the emails has not been independently verified. An email of 9 May 2016 from Assaf Orion of the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) said that "a representative of Sima's was embedded in our work" on an INSS assessment of BDS. It also said Vaknin-Gil had made clear to Gilad Erdan "that the government will not give direction on content in projects it funds, such as the IDC media rooms" (translated from Hebrew). In a further email of 1 June 2016, Orion said she intended Tzahi Gavrieli, "her future deputy", to lead the "virtual network infrastructure of the Blues" (the pro-Israel network) (translated from Hebrew). Jack Poulson first reported that this email described her plan as "Aman for the poor" and her choice of Sagi Balasha to run the government company, adding "Milstein will be happy".

At a meeting with Erdan and INSS on 14 June 2016, according to the minutes, Vaknin-Gil said that "a robust civilian intelligence organisation must be set up to support the campaign". She also said the planned public-benefit company was aiming for NIS 40 million from government and NIS 40 million from donors, and that "a better term than 'partnerships'" was needed because in government the word was associated with contracts or with competition with the Foreign Ministry (translated from Hebrew).

Leaked Israeli Ministry of Justice documents, published by Distributed Denial of Secrets in 2024 and not independently verified, record that Vaknin-Gil attended a meeting chaired by Deputy Attorney General Dina Zilber on 6 August 2018 on the US activity of Kela Shlomo in light of the Foreign Agents Registration Act.