Aman And Counterterrorism THIS LESSON EXAMINES AMAN AND

Aman And Counterterrorism THIS LESSON EXAMINES AMAN AND THE ORGANIZATIONS ROLE IN COUNTERTERRORISM. AMAN IS THE LARGEST INTELLIGENCE ORGANIZATION IN ISRAEL. AMAN IS A MILITARY INTELLIGENCE ORGANIZATION. THE ORGANIZATION IS STAFFED BY OVER 7, 000 PERSONNEL. AMAN CONTROLS MOST SIGNALS INTELLIGENCE AND AERIAL RECONNAISSANCE ASSETS.

Aman And Counterterrorism • Aman was established not longer after the establishment of the state of Israel. • Aman is the one of the oldest of the Israeli Defense organizations. • Much like its American counterpart, representatives of Aman provide daily intelligence briefings to the leader of the country. • The main mission of the Military Intelligence Directorate is to supply the government and IDF with intelligence warnings and daily alerts and during wartime to protect Israel from threats. It is also the largest Israeli intelligence organization.

Aman And Counterterrorism • In addition to the intel reports, Aman provides “risk-of-war estimates, target studies on nearby Arab countries, and communications intercepts. • Aman readily obtains intelligence through numerous “cross-border operations. ” • Aman makes extensive use of specialized “reconnaissance commando teams behind enemy lines, aerial reconnaissance and military attaches stationed in overseas embassies to gather intelligence. ” • Military Intelligence and Cyber Instruction Unit (MICIU) school trains the elite soldiers of Aman. The school is the largest training facility in the region.

Aman And Counterterrorism • As describe in a previous slide, Aman relies on several elite units to conduct or obtain military intelligence on behalf of the government of Israel. • Those units include Unit 8200, Unit 9900, and Unit 504. • These units assist in obtaining information to track the growth of anti-Israel terrorist groups in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

Aman And Counterterrorism • Unit 8200 represents the largest organization within Aman. • Unit 8200 collects signals intelligence and engages in decryption. • The unit operates wherever the IDF is battling threats to Israel (state and non-state threats).

• Unit 8200 engages in the collection of Signals Intelligence (SIGINT). • The unit engages in the collection of Image intelligence (IMINT) and Open Source intelligence (OSINT). • Taken collectively, these capabilities is indicative of why Unit 8200 is recognized as one of elite organizations in intelligence collection. Aman And Counterterrorism

Aman And Counterterrorism • Members of Unit 8200 are Arab linguists. • A major part of their work involves translation of material obtain in IDF raids, or intercepts of email and social media of Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist groups.

Aman And Counterterrorism • Unit 9900 engages in Visual Intelligence (VISINT) collection. • One of the unique features of Unit 9900 is that its members are “all diagnosed on the autism spectrum. ” • Second, members of Unit 9900 collects intel related “to geography, including mapping, interpretation of aerial and satellite photographs and space research.

• Third, Unit 9900 makes extensive use of computer vision. Computer vision provides for the means to obtain level understanding of images and videos. • Computer vision is one of the many signature features of Unit 9900; using advance knowledge of computers to obtain the most from surveillance images. • Source: “How Israel’s Secret Soldiers Drive Tech Success, ” Financial Times, 2018. Aman And Counterterrorism

Aman And Counterterrorism • Another important feature of the capabilities of the unit is that they are often deployed to the frontline in both the Southern and Northern IDF Commands. • This is an extraordinary unit, but it suffers from a shortage of manpower that impacts the three components that comprise the organization. • Source: “Israel’s Visual Intelligence Unit Unprepared for War, State Comptroller Says, ” Haaretz, 2018.

Aman And Counterterrorism • Unit 504 is tasked with gathering Human Intelligence (HUMINT). • Undercover agents that serve within Unit 504 participate in overseas missions. • As one would anticipate, Unit 504 routinely obtains intel on a host of Palestinian terrorist groups including Hamas. In addition, Hezbollah, the Islamic State, and other terrorist groups are targets of this intelligence organization.

Aman And Counterterrorism • In addition to operating agents overseas, Unit 504 operates in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. • The intel data that is collected is then provided to the Military Intelligence Directorate. • One of the interesting facts is that since its inception in 1949, the unit has undergone many transformations. It was known as Intelligence 10, then Unit 154, then it merged with Unit 560 before assuming the designation of Unit 504.