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The Israeli National Security Council (NSC) (Hebrew: המועצה לביטחון לאומי HaMo'atzah leBitachon leOmi) is Israel's central body for coordination, integration, analysis and monitoring in the field of national security and is the staff forum on national security for the Israeli Prime Minister and Government. However, national security decisions typically made by national security councils in other countries are handled by the Security Cabinet. The Council draws its authority from the government and operates according to guidelines from the Prime Minister.
The NSC was established in 1999 by the office of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu following Government Resolution 4889, in the framework of drawing lessons from the Yom Kippur War.
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Article 7 of the Government Law of 2001 states that "the Government will have an staff, established by the Prime Minister, to provide professional consulting in the fields of national security; the Prime Minister is authorized to entrust the staff with additional consulting fields." Government Resolution 4889, dated March 7 1999, established the National Security Council. The Government resolution specified, among others, that:
The National Security Council is the Prime Minister's and the Government's staff forum in the field of national security. The roles of the NSC, as stipulated in the Government Resolution, are as follows:
Among the Council's functions are: strategic advisement to the Prime Minister, offering security recommendations to the government, joint direction and coordinations of the security arms as well as inspection and supervision of decision-making related to the security bodies. Other functions include long-term planning of security approaches, and maintaining cooperative and coordinative relations with the national security elements of selected countries.
The NSC formulates alternatives for Israeli policy on the political process and relationships with:
Issues which the Council engaged include the planning of the West Bank barrier and supervision over its implementation, helping to forge the Gaza disengagement plan, and the agreement with Egypt over the Philadelphi Route.
A new area of activity relates to energy issues, based on a comprehensive national security perspective, including:
The National Security Council is part of the Prime Minister's Office and reports to him directly about issues related to national security.
The Council comprises three wings: Security Policy, Foreign Policy, and the Counter-Terrorism Bureau. It has two advisors: legal and economic.
Since the end of December 2006, the office of the head of the NSC and the staff of the Foreign Policy Division, the Security Division and the Legal Advisor have been located in the Prime Minister’s office in Jerusalem. The remaining staff of the NSC and the Counter-Terrorism Bureau headquarters are based at the NSC facility in Ramat Hasharon.
The Council's work is considered secret, and is done outside the public's eye. Its authority is vague and the Prime Minister is not obligated to accept its recommendations, unlike with those of the Attorney General, for example.
The Head of the NSA is a trust-based position, and in the case where the Prime Minister lacks confidence in the Council Head, this will result in the latter's resignation. The first three Council heads did not serve their full terms, which attests to the problematic nature of the position. The first National Security Advisor and Head of NSC was General (reserves) David Ivri. The current Head is Dr. Uzi Arad, former head of the Institute for Policy and Strategy of the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya and Professor at its Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy and Strategy. Arad was Director of Research of the Mossad until 1997.
Historical heads were:
The National Security Council’s Foreign Policy Division is in charge of planning, integration and coordination of policy on major issues of national security. The Division's roles: