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]
Return to Shin Bet
Haremlin returned as head of the Shin Bet in 1986 in order to rehabilitate the organization following the "Bus 300" Affair. 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 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.
