# Shin Bet

> **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou.
>
> Cite as: "Shin Bet," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/shin-bet/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia.

*Israel's internal security service; per John Kiriakou, one of the two declared Israeli intelligence officers at the Washington embassy, and the service whose officer, alongside a Mossad officer, he says tried to recruit him at his first CIA liaison briefing in the spring of 1990, an approach his colleagues told him had been made to every one of them.*

- **Country:** Israel
- **Type:** Internal security / counterintelligence
- **Declared officers in D.C. (per Kiriakou):** One, alongside one from [Mossad](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/mossad)
- **Kiriakou's first liaison briefing:** March or April 1990, jointly to Shin Bet and Mossad, on Iraq and Saddam Hussein
- **Working relationship:** Shin Bet and Mossad "work very closely together" and brief foreign services jointly

**Shin Bet** is Israel's internal security and counterintelligence service. In [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou)'s account, the CIA's day-one counterintelligence briefing named it as one of two declared Israeli services operating out of the Washington embassy, one [Mossad](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/mossad) officer, one Shin Bet officer.[1][2][3]

Kiriakou describes his first liaison briefing, six weeks into the job, as a joint session with a Mossad officer and a Shin Bet officer held in a rented safe house rather than at headquarters, because, he says, Israeli officers kept bringing bugged gifts to CIA conference rooms and were ultimately banned from the building.[4][5] When he introduced himself under his true name, the Shin Bet officer pushed his glasses down, asked him to spell it, and said, *"You are Jewish?"* Kiriakou answered, *"I am not recruitable. Don't even think about trying to recruit me."* His boss later told him the Israelis pitch every officer they meet, reasoning that if they approach a thousand, one will eventually say yes.[6][7] He tells the same story elsewhere, adding the specific gift that got Israeli officers barred from CIA headquarters in the first place: a large ceremonial CIA seal, meant for display in a conference room, that concealed a transmitter with enough batteries to last a year and a half, discovered only when the agency X-rayed it.[8] In that telling, briefed jointly by the Mossad and Shin Bet officers at an off-site location as the most junior analyst present and using his real name for the first time, Kiriakou again recounts being told *"You are Jewish"* and replying, *"I am not recruitable,"* reading it as an attempted recruitment approach five minutes into their first conversation.[9]

## The briefing, in detail

Across retellings the scene fills in. He dates it to March or April 1990, six or seven weeks into the job, at twenty-four or twenty-five.[10][11] The subject was Iraq and the possibility that Iraq might invade Kuwait, *"Saddam Hussein and what we expect him to do in the next several months,"* or in another version Saddam's state of mind. Eight or ten officers went round the table from the most senior analyst down; as the junior-most, and as an overt employee instructed to use his true name, Kiriakou spoke last.[12][11]

The question, when it came, landed as an insult rather than a curiosity: *"It enraged me, the question."* The Shin Bet officer then simply took notes on everything he said. Back at the office Kiriakou reported it, *"that Shin Bet bastard tried to recruit me in front of everybody"*, and got a laugh and a shrug: *"They do that to all of us,"* in one version; *"they have done that to every single one of us, every one of us,"* in another.[13][14]

## The asymmetry

Kiriakou uses the episode to make a structural point about the relationship. The CIA is not permitted to spy on the Israelis, *"absolutely, positively forbidden. Hands off"*, while, in his account, they spy on the United States constantly.[15] The same day-one security briefing that named the two declared officers put a number on the rest: *"Even our friends spy on us,"* the head of CIA security told the new hires, and the [FBI](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/fbi) had identified 187 undeclared Israeli Mossad officers spread across the United States, working against American defense contractors to steal defense secrets. Kiriakou's summary of the motive is that the United States gives Israel ninety-nine per cent of what it has, and they want the last one per cent, the pattern he illustrates with the [F-35 avionics](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/f-35-israel-avionics) dispute.[16][17][18]

## How Shin Bet and Mossad work together

Shin Bet is the domestic-intelligence service, but in Kiriakou's description *"everything bleeds into the other side in Israel,"* and the two services work very closely together. The joint liaison briefing is itself the evidence: having lived overseas for years, he says he could not imagine turning up at a foreign intelligence service jointly with the FBI, whereas Mossad and Shin Bet do exactly that as a matter of routine.[10][19]

Asked which of the two drives Israeli decision-making on striking Iran, his answer is that a great deal of it comes from Mossad, on the strength of the existential-threat framing.[20]

## On 7 October

Kiriakou's professional judgement of Shin Bet's competence is what drives his reading of the [October 7 attack](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/october-7-attack). Shin Bet, Mossad and the professional leadership of the Israel Defense Forces are, in his assessment, *too competent* for what happened: where was the reaction force, where was the instantaneous alarm? He sets that against the Israeli women in an intelligence cell who reported the preparations repeatedly and well in advance, and against the Egyptian deputy chief of staff for intelligence warning that a giant Hamas attack was coming. His conclusion is that the attack was allowed to serve as the trigger for a wider regional campaign, *"and they saw this as an ideal opportunity to drag us in. And we have willingly walked in."*[21][22]

## See also

- [MOSSAD](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/mossad)
- [Israeli intelligence in the United States](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/israeli-intelligence-in-united-states)
- [October 7 attack](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/october-7-attack)
- [Recruitment attempts on Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/recruitment-attempts-on-kiriakou)
- [AIPAC](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/aipac)

## Sources

1. 3 Hours with John Kiriakou: CIA Whistleblower on JFK, Conspiracies & Power (2026-06-15), at 39:30. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dfXffvHAnU&t=2370s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-06-15-jason-jones-3-hours-kiriakou/
2. Israel's negative influence on US security (2022-03-06), at 06:48. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5B-fzDvyO8&t=408s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2022-03-06-washington-report-on-mid-east-israel-s-negative-influence-on-us-security/
3. The Anchormen Show EP 105 - Spy Games w/ Pearson Sharp & (2026-03-10), at 43:13. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_B70u_5YXNk&t=2593s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-03-10-former-congressman-matt-ga/
4. 3 Hours with John Kiriakou: CIA Whistleblower on JFK, Conspiracies & Power (2026-06-15), at 35:21. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dfXffvHAnU&t=2121s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-06-15-jason-jones-3-hours-kiriakou/
5. 3 Hours with John Kiriakou: CIA Whistleblower on JFK, Conspiracies & Power (2026-06-15), at 35:52. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dfXffvHAnU&t=2152s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-06-15-jason-jones-3-hours-kiriakou/
6. 3 Hours with John Kiriakou: CIA Whistleblower on JFK, Conspiracies & Power (2026-06-15), at 36:54. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dfXffvHAnU&t=2214s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-06-15-jason-jones-3-hours-kiriakou/
7. 3 Hours with John Kiriakou: CIA Whistleblower on JFK, Conspiracies & Power (2026-06-15), at 37:26. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dfXffvHAnU&t=2246s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-06-15-jason-jones-3-hours-kiriakou/
8. CIA Spy Breaks Silence On Elon Musk's Twitter Files — John (2023-04-12), at 1:37:16. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmPpOps1yeI&t=5836s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2023-04-12-danny-jones/
9. CIA Spy Breaks Silence On Elon Musk's Twitter Files — John (2023-04-12), at 1:38:50. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmPpOps1yeI&t=5930s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2023-04-12-danny-jones/
10. Putin Warns Staggering Response to NATO — Iran (2025-10-25), at 51:33. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2htCOU-tTw&t=3093s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-10-25-dialogue-works-putin-warns-staggering-response-to-nato-iran/
11. Ex-CIA Spy Exposes Mossad's Secrets (w/ Joe Lauria) (2025-10-12), at 08:48. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44AXcdINY24&t=528s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-10-12-danny-haiphong/
12. CIA Whistleblower John Kiriakou Confronts the Deep State, (2025-06-25), at 40:40. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-8pQrcfQ8U&t=2440s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-06-25-harrison-berger/
13. Ex-CIA Spy Exposes Mossad's Secrets (w/ Joe Lauria) (2025-10-12), at 09:19. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44AXcdINY24&t=559s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-10-12-danny-haiphong/
14. CIA Whistleblower John Kiriakou Confronts the Deep State, (2025-06-25), at 41:14. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-8pQrcfQ8U&t=2474s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-06-25-harrison-berger/
15. Ex-CIA Spy Exposes Mossad's Secrets (w/ Joe Lauria) (2025-10-12), at 09:50. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44AXcdINY24&t=590s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-10-12-danny-haiphong/
16. Former CIA Spy Reveals the Truth That Shook Washington - (2026-05-26), at 30:48. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2cKxy1ZQf0&t=1848s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-05-26-covert-operations-insight/
17. Former CIA Spy Reveals the Truth That Shook Washington - (2026-05-26), at 31:19. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2cKxy1ZQf0&t=1879s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-05-26-covert-operations-insight/
18. Former CIA Spy Reveals the Truth That Shook Washington - (2026-05-26), at 31:49. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2cKxy1ZQf0&t=1909s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-05-26-covert-operations-insight/
19. Putin Warns Staggering Response to NATO — Iran (2025-10-25), at 52:05. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2htCOU-tTw&t=3125s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-10-25-dialogue-works-putin-warns-staggering-response-to-nato-iran/
20. Putin Warns Staggering Response to NATO — Iran (2025-10-25), at 52:36. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2htCOU-tTw&t=3156s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-10-25-dialogue-works-putin-warns-staggering-response-to-nato-iran/
21. The Deep Focus Show (2025-10-31), at 31:45. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oazTShMDcTo&t=1905s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-10-31-the-deep-focus-show-the-deep-focus-show/
22. The Deep Focus Show (2025-10-31), at 32:16. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oazTShMDcTo&t=1936s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-10-31-the-deep-focus-show-the-deep-focus-show/

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From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/shin-bet/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt