Shin Bet chief Argaman: We thwarted 560 terror attacks this year
Argaman was speaking at a ceremony to give prizes to top performers in the country's intelligence agencies.
By YONAH JEREMY BOBPrime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Shin Bet Director Nadav Argaman at an awards ceremony for the top performers in the country's intelligence agencies, January 20, 2020(photo credit: AMOS BEN-GERSHOM/GPO)
The Shin Bet (Israel Security Service) thwarted 560 significant terrorist attacks in 2019, more than 300 of them shootings, it said Monday.Ten would-be suicide bombers and four attempted kidnappings were thwarted, Shin Bet director Nadav Argaman said.He was speaking at a ceremony to give prizes to top performers in the country’s intelligence agencies.Argaman gave credit to the entire Shin Bet and other agencies for their efforts in nabbing terrorists before they could kill Israeli civilians.In particular, he said, “thwarting these attacks was only possible through the efforts of our entire agency – thanks to your investment, determination, constant commitment, professionalism and creativity.”“The ability to create something from nothing, to think out of the box” to combat certain new terrorist challenges proved that “the sky is the limit” for what intelligence agents can accomplish to defend the country, Argaman said.Operatives who participated in six key operations were given awards.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also spoke at the ceremony, emphasizing that Iran remains the country’s main threat.He said Iran threatens Israel using conventional warfare, is a potential nuclear threat in the future and uses proxy terrorist groups to achieve its goals.Netanyahu thanked the intelligence agencies for keeping the Israeli public safe and for providing a relative sense of safety in the midst of a dangerous region.
“Our determination to fight for our future and to thwart our enemies must be much greater than their” determination, he said.In November 2018, Argaman told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee his agency had thwarted 480 substantial terrorist attacks in the previous year.In that same presentation, he noted that of the thwarted attacks, 280 were planned shootings, 101 involved car rammings and knifings, 76 involved some kind of explosive, seven were kidnappings and six were would-be suicide bombers.The numbers reflect an increase of a sixth (almost 17%) in attacks thwarted from 2018 to 2019.
