Ehud Yatom

Ehud Yatom was born in 1948 in Israel

Yatom was born and raised in the Ein HaTkhelet neighborhood of Netanya. He is the younger brother of Danny Yatom, a former Mossad head and Knesset member. Another brother, Moshe, commanded the Iron Fist Brigade.

He joined the IDF in 1966 and volunteered for Sayeret Matkal. He later moved to the Paratroopers reconnaissance unit and served as a company commander. He left the army in 1971.

Yatom then joined the Shin Bet and headed its operations division. In the 1984 Kav 300 affair, he and his men killed two captured hijackers on the order of the Shin Bet head and later gave false testimony. President Chaim Herzog pardoned him before any indictment was filed.

He continued in senior Shin Bet roles, heading the administration division from 1986. From 1999 to 2000 he was director general of the Hadera municipality. In 2001 the High Court of Justice blocked his appointment as a government anti-terror advisor.

He entered the Knesset for Likud in 2003 and opposed the disengagement plan. He lost his seat in 2006. He was later named chairman of the Nature and Parks Authority and resigned in May 2011.