Shabtai Shavit

Shabtai Shavit was born in 1939 in Nesher

Shavit was born in Nesher in 1939. His father was a school principal and his mother was a kindergarten teacher. He finished high school at the Hebrew Reali School in Haifa, in the Middle Eastern studies track.

He joined the IDF in 1958 and later volunteered for Sayeret Matkal when it was formed. After his discharge he earned a bachelor's degree in Middle Eastern studies and Arabic at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He also held a master's degree in public administration from Harvard University.

Shavit joined the Mossad in 1964 and worked as a collection officer, including in Iran. He headed the Caesarea division from 1980 to 1985 and became deputy director in 1986. As director from 1989 to 1996, he widened the agency's work toward global intelligence, including Eastern Europe and South America.

After leaving the Mossad he led Maccabi Health Services until 2001. He co-founded the security company Athena, worked with EMG on the Egyptian gas project, and chaired the Institute for Counter-Terrorism at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya. He was a member of Commanders for Israel's Security and supported a two-state solution.

In 2018 he published his book Head of the Mossad, which won the Moldovan Prize in 2019. He was married to Yael, had 3 children and lived in Ramat HaSharon. He died of a heart attack on 5 September 2023 during a vacation in Italy.