Netanyahu tells Shin Bet honourees: 'No one is immune' to Israel's reach

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed an awards ceremony for outstanding personnel of the Israel Security Agency, held at the President's Residence, telling honourees that Israel was continuing to pursue those responsible for the October 7 attack. According to the text of his remarks released by the Israeli government, Netanyahu said: "We are settling accounts with the October 7 terrorists. No one is immune, and you are putting that into practice. We will bring down the regime in Iran, eliminate Hamas, and also deal with Hezbollah."

The published remarks credit the agency's personnel with a thousand thwarted attacks in Judea and Samaria, achieved in cooperation with the Israel Defense Forces and other security bodies, and describe operations in the Gaza Strip in which, Netanyahu said, Israeli forces are closing in on Hamas. He addressed the agency's director, David Zini, by name, saying he leads "a robust, strong and committed force", and closed with a New Year greeting.

What the Israel Security Agency is

The Israel Security Agency, known in Hebrew as the Shin Bet and sometimes rendered in English as the General Security Service, is Israel's internal security and counter-intelligence body. Its remit covers counter-terrorism inside Israel and in the territories, the protection of senior officials and strategic sites, counter-espionage and the interrogation of security suspects. Unlike the Mossad, which operates abroad, the agency's work is domestic, and unlike the police it is not a law-enforcement body in the ordinary sense: it reports to the prime minister rather than to a government ministry.

Because almost all of its work is classified, the agency's operatives are not publicly identified, and internal awards ceremonies of the kind described in the government statement are among the few occasions on which its activity is acknowledged in public at all, and then only in general terms. The government release names the agency's director, David Zini, but no honourees.

The President's Residence and its ceremonial role

The President's Residence is the official home and working seat of Israel's head of state, a largely ceremonial office distinct from the prime minister, who heads the government. The residence regularly hosts state ceremonies, including recognition events for the security services, which gives such awards a formal national character without requiring the disclosure of operational detail.

'Judea and Samaria' and the areas named

Judea and Samaria is the Israeli official term for the territory widely known internationally as the West Bank. It is the wording used in Israeli government documents and in the released remarks, and it carries a claim about the land's historic Jewish connection that is contested in international usage. Israeli security bodies conduct frequent arrest raids and preventive operations there, and the claim of a thousand thwarted attacks in the released text refers to that arena rather than to Gaza.

The Gaza Strip, on Israel's southwestern coastal border, is the territory governed by Hamas, the group that carried out the assault on southern Israel on October 7. Hezbollah, named separately in the remarks, is the Lebanese Shi'ite armed movement on Israel's northern border. Both are described by Israeli officials as parts of a wider network aligned with Iran, which Netanyahu referred to in the released text as Iran and its proxies.

What Netanyahu said about Iran

The published remarks include an assessment as well as a threat. Netanyahu said the desire of Iran and its proxies to destroy Israel had not disappeared but had weakened, and that their ability to act on it had been severely degraded. He went on to say that most of the work had been done but that some remained, adding that Israel would eliminate Hamas, defeat and bring down the government in Iran, and that Hezbollah would fall as well. He also praised what he called the agency's groundbreaking technological work.

What the report does not say

The material available is a single government press release, and it consists of the prime minister's remarks rather than an independent account of the event. It does not name the honourees or say how many were recognised, nor does it describe what operations the awards were given for. It does not state who else spoke or attended, and it does not include remarks by the president or by the agency's director.

The figure of a thousand thwarted attacks is the prime minister's, presented without a time frame, a definition of what counts as a thwarted attack, or independent confirmation. Statements about the condition of Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran are political and assessments made by the speaker, not verified findings, and no other organisation's reporting on the ceremony was available for comparison. The release also does not describe any operational plans beyond the general commitments quoted.