DICHTER, AVRAHAM

(Avi Dicter)

(1952- )

   Born in Ashkelon, he was awarded for bravery in battle during a long military career, including a period with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) elite Sayeret Matkal reconnaissance unit. After his release from the IDF, he joined the Shin Bet (Shabak)/General Security Service and studied Arabic. In 1992, he was appointed head of the agency's southern sector, and in that capacity, he oversaw the targeted killing of Yahya Ayash, Hamas's chief bomb maker.In 1996, shortly after the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, Dichter was appointed head of Shin Bet's Protection Branch. In 1999, he was named the agency's deputy director, and in 2000, he became Shin Bet director. His tenure coincided with the Al-Aksa intifada; he advocated both the policy of the targeted killing of terrorist leaders and the construction of Israel's West Bank security barrier.

   On 15 May 2005, Dichter completed his five-year term as Shin Bet director and retired from the service; there was some speculation that he was not offered a second term because of his initial opposition, on security grounds, to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Gaza disengagement plan (see UNILATERAL DISENGAGEMENT [HITNATKUT, TOKHNIT HAHITNATKUT]). At the conclusion of the 100-day "cooling off" period (during which retiring senior government officials and military officers are banned from participating in political affairs), Dichter joined Sharon's Kadima Party. On May 2006, he became minister of internal security in Israel's government.

   See also Suicide Bombings; Targeted Assassinations.