09-09-2010, 01:32 PM
Unit 8200 (read as eight two-hundred, or יחידה 8200 (shmone matayim) in Hebrew) is an IDF Intelligence Corps unit, responsible for collecting signal intelligence and code decryption. It is also known in military publications as the Central Collection Unit of the Intelligence Corps, and was formerly known as Unit 515, and later, Unit 848.
It is the largest unit in the IDF, comparable in its function to the United States' National Security Agency, except that it is not a separate civilian (i.e. Ministry of Defense) body.
Urim SIGINT Base is the most important signal intelligence-gathering installation operated by Israel's military and is part of Unit 8200. The Urim base is located in the Negev desert approximately 30km from Beersheba.”[1]
In March 2004, The Commission to investigate the intelligence network following the War in Iraq recommended turning the unit into a civilian National SIGINT Agency, as is largely the case in other Western countries, but this proposal has yet to be implemented.
Unit 8200 is led by a Brigadier-General whose identity remains classified.
Ronen Bergman revealed in a 2009 book that a Hezbollah bomb, disguised as a cell phone, exploded at Unit 8200's headquarters in February 1999. Two officers were injured.[2]
Within IDF structure
External links
It is the largest unit in the IDF, comparable in its function to the United States' National Security Agency, except that it is not a separate civilian (i.e. Ministry of Defense) body.
Urim SIGINT Base is the most important signal intelligence-gathering installation operated by Israel's military and is part of Unit 8200. The Urim base is located in the Negev desert approximately 30km from Beersheba.”[1]
In March 2004, The Commission to investigate the intelligence network following the War in Iraq recommended turning the unit into a civilian National SIGINT Agency, as is largely the case in other Western countries, but this proposal has yet to be implemented.
Unit 8200 is led by a Brigadier-General whose identity remains classified.
Ronen Bergman revealed in a 2009 book that a Hezbollah bomb, disguised as a cell phone, exploded at Unit 8200's headquarters in February 1999. Two officers were injured.[2]
Within IDF structure
- Unit 8200
- ^ Le Monde Diplomatique, 2010 September, "Israel’s Omniscient Ears: Israel’s Urim Base in the Negev Desert is among the most important and powerful intelligence gathering sites in the world. Yet, until now, its eavesdropping has gone entirely unmentioned," http://mondediplo.com/2010/09/04israelbase
- ^ Book: Hezbollah got inside MI's inner sanctum Ynet, 13 Sept 2009
External links
"The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways. The point, however, is to change it." Karl Marx
"He would, wouldn't he?" Mandy Rice-Davies. When asked in court whether she knew that Lord Astor had denied having sex with her.
“I think it would be a good idea” Ghandi, when asked about Western Civilisation.
"He would, wouldn't he?" Mandy Rice-Davies. When asked in court whether she knew that Lord Astor had denied having sex with her.
“I think it would be a good idea” Ghandi, when asked about Western Civilisation.