Urim SIGINT Base is an Israeli intelligence-gathering installation, part of the Unit 8200. Urim is located in the Negev desert approximately 30km from Beersheba, a couple of kilometres north of the kibbutz of Urim. The existence of the signal interception base became known to the public only in 2010.
Equivalents of Unit 8200 are the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) of Britain and the National Security Agency (NSA) of the United States. Each of these signals interception spy agencies is far bigger in size than its cloak and dagger counterparts.[1]
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Created decades ago to monitor Intelsat satellites that relay international telephone calls, Urim was expanded to cover maritime communications (Inmarsat), and kept being expanded to intercept the signal communications of ever more communications satellites. Duncan Campbell, an intelligence specialist stated that Urim is "akin to the UK-USA pact's Echelon satellite interception ground stations."[1] The Echelon system was set up by the United States, Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand as a global network of signal interception stations.
The base has a row of satellite dishes that can intercept phone calls, emails, and other communications from anywhere in the Middle East, Europe, Africa, and Asia, and antennas that can monitor shipping. There are also numerous barracks and operations buildings lined along the road that leads to the base, which is protected by high security gates, fences, and guard dogs.
Computers at Urim detect words and phone numbers of interest from intercepted phone calls, e-mails, etc. which are then transferred to Unit 8200's headquarters at Herzliya.[1] At the HQ, the information is translated and submitted as necessary to IDF headquarters or to Israel's spy agencies, such as the Mossad.