Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu decided Sunday to appoint Haggai Hadas, a former senior official in the Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency, as his special representative for the matter of abducted IDF soldier Gilad Shalit. He will replace Ofer Dekel in this capacity.
Hadas will work in cooperation with the defense establishment and will consult with Minister for Intelligence Dan Meridor and MK Yisrael Hasson (Kadima), a former Deputy Head of the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency). Netanyahu recently offered Meridor the role of replacing Dekel but Meridor turned down the offer. Hasson’s name was also floated as a potential replacement for Dekel.
Besides Meridor and Hasson, a special team of ministers will accompany Hadas’s progress. The team will be made up of Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe Ya’alon and minister Yossi Peled.
A top-class operative
Hadas, 56, served in numerous operational positions in the Mossad. He is considered to be a top-class intelligence and special operations expert. He left the Mossad in January 2006 after serving in a very senior position. He is married and the father of three.
Dekel met with Netanyahu several weeks ago and asked the prime minister to release him from his present duty. He noted that he has been in charge of the Shalit negotiations for two and a half years and that he asked former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to let him go, but stayed on because Olmert asked him to wait until he, Olmert, left office.
Netanyahu expressed appreciation for Dekel’s service and noted that Dekel received no payment for his work in the Shalit negotiations.