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Avishai Raviv

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Avishai Raviv
Raviv in 2018
Born (1967-06-08) 8 June 1967 (age 57)
Holon, Tel Aviv, Israel
NationalityIsraeli
OccupationFormer agent
Years active1987–1995
Known forInvolvement with the Shin Bet as an undercover agent; allegations regarding his role as a provocateur in the Israeli far-right
Criminal chargeFailing to prevent a crime
Criminal statusAcquitted of all charges in 2003
SpouseDivorced (2 times)
Children3

Avishai Raviv (Hebrew: אבישי רביב; born 8 June 1967) is a former agent in the Jewish Department of the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency). He was recruited in December 1987 and served in that capacity until his exposure in November 1995, following the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin by Yigal Amir.

During his tenure in the Shin Bet's Jewish Department, he participated in numerous violent activities, established two fictitious underground organizations, and, according to the Attorney General Elyakim Rubinstein, acted as a provocateur, contrary to his handlers' intentions.[1] He encouraged acts of right wing extremism to discredit opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu and the National Religious in Israel, particularly the Kahanists.[2][3] His code name was 'Champagne' (Hebrew: שמפניה, romanized: Shampaniyah).[4]

Early life and beginnings

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Raviv was born and raised in Holon. He attended elementary school at the Bialik State School for eight years and then went to Kugel High School in the city. He was a member of Noar HaOved VeLomed, and in 11th grade, he moved to Kach. He completed his military service in the Givati Brigade, where he was injured in the leg during a training accident, hospitalized for four months, discharged from service, and classified as an IDF disabled veteran. After his discharge from the IDF, he was a marginal activist in the Kach movement (in addition to Kach, Raviv was also active in the Moledet and Tehiya parties).

In December 1987, Raviv was recruited by the Shin Bet and began to express extreme views under their orders. In January 1988, he was quoted in a Hadashot survey on dealing with the First Intifada: "Anyone who throws a stone or Molotov cocktail should be killed. The Arabs only understand force."[5] That same month, he disrupted a performance in protest against the play "Jerusalem Syndrome" and was removed from the hall by police.[6] In March, he was quoted saying, "These leftists are so shallow… We are the future."[7] In May, he was arrested while participating in a demonstration of Kach activists outside a support event by Yesh Gvul members for service refusers in the territories at the gates of Prison 4, and he attacked a Yesh Gvul activist.[8]

In September, in coordination with the Shin Bet, he moved to Kiryat Arba,[9] while also beginning his studies at Tel Aviv University, where he became active in the student cell "Brit Ne'emanei Eretz Israel," which he established.[10] Raviv ran for the Tel Aviv University Student Union Council elections in December but did not succeed in being elected.[11]

During a protest by members of the Kach movement in 1987, Raviv was arrested by the police. At that time, the Kach movement had not yet been outlawed, and its activities were concentrated in Kfar Tapuach, Jerusalem, and Hebron.

Raviv frequently sent letters to newspaper editors.[12] In June 1990, he was detained for 48 hours in the Sikarikim case and was placed in a cell with the primary suspect, Yoel Adler.[13] The media reported that he was a key suspect in the case.[14] By the end of 1990, he had become the youth coordinator of "Temple Mount Faithful".

During this period, Raviv married[15] an immigrant from Russia and lived in Ma'ale Levona.[14] In June 1993, it was reported that Raviv was wanted for allegedly inciting a 15-year-old boy to puncture the tires of a UN vehicle.[16] In October 1993, Raviv was detained during a protest march against the Oslo Accords.[17]

After getting suspended from university, Raviv unsuccessfully attempted to revive the DB organization ("Suppression of Traitors"), an extreme right-wing student organization that had been active from 1971 to 1972.[18]

In court, his handlers described him as a "problematic" agent, whose mission was ostensibly "to prevent the commission of criminal offenses." However, according to the Shamgar Commission:

"He himself committed numerous offenses, knowing he was exempt from liability due to the backing provided by state authorities. The oversight of him by service officials was ineffective, and in most cases, they only became aware of his actions after the fact, yet they continued to settle for warnings."[19]

Immediately after the Cave of the Patriarchs massacre and the outlawing of the Kach movement, Raviv fled Tel Aviv and hid in the abandoned home of Yoram Shkolnik, who was detained at the time on suspicion of shooting a handcuffed terrorist. Raviv disclosed his hiding place, was arrested for questioning, and released after two days. Following information he had previously gathered, several Kach leaders were placed under administrative detention after the massacre.

After his attempts to resume studies at Tel Aviv University failed, Raviv was accepted into the Political Science department at Bar-Ilan University and joined a student organization that organized weekend events for students in villages beyond the Green Line. These weekends primarily served as social gatherings for Dati Leumi singles.

Activities in the Shin Bet

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Raviv operated undercover as a far-right activist for about 8 years, regarded as an active, dedicated, and highly motivated agent. His relationship with his handlers was extremely intensive, and he provided the Shin Bet with valuable information that helped thwart various violent acts.[20] Shin Bet documents related to the information Raviv provided and his activities spanned approximately 20,000 pages.[21]

Raviv took responsibility for the murder of a Palestinian near Halhul on 7 September 1995. He informed journalists that the Eyal organization, and later the "Sword of David" organization, committed the murder, but it was later revealed to be a local dispute.[22][23]

Raviv's operation

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During Raviv's time as an agent, several criminal cases were opened against him.[24] Raviv was questioned about his actions by the Shin Bet and admitted to a series of various offenses against both Jews and Arabs, which included violence, property damage, and threats.

Due to Raviv's problematic behavior and the accumulation of numerous criminal cases against him, the Shin Bet shared information about his activities with the State Prosecutor, Dorit Beinisch. According to Chaim Levinson (a claim denied by Beinisch), Beinisch kept this information from the Attorneys General, Yosef Harish and Michael Ben-Yair, who were unaware of Raviv's operation. Due to Raviv's actions, the Attorneys General ordered investigations against him on at least two occasions.[21] Beinisch handled the closure of Raviv's cases. Ronen Bergman quotes a senior official from the Shin Bet’s Jewish Division as saying about the criminal cases:

"We had to deal with this pile of cases, so we turned to Dorit Beinisch to close them. It wasn’t easy, of course, to convince them and to close the cases wisely to avoid arousing suspicion."[25]

Following the staged Eyal oath ceremony broadcast on Channel One, which was carried out without Shin Bet’s knowledge, it was decided in October 1995 to suspend contact with him for a month. However, even during this month, various reports continued to come from Raviv. At the end of the suspension period, Raviv signed a commitment not to exceed the permissions given for his activities.[26]

Raviv's Exposure

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After the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, Raviv’s identity as a Shin Bet agent was exposed by Benny Elon, followed by Channel One journalist Amnon Abramovich, who also revealed that Raviv’s code name as an agent was "Champagne."[27] Elon's suspicion about Raviv had arisen even before the assassination and intensified after a poorly executed investigative tactic brought Margalit Har-Shefi and Raviv together (he agreed to be detained to assist in the investigation) during her questioning.[21] In 1999, a document was published that caused a public outcry and was referred to as the "Raviv Document."[28] The document was a protocol from a 1996 meeting regarding Avishai Raviv, held with the Attorney General and attended by representatives from the Ministry of Justice and the Shin Bet. According to the protocol, Hezi Kalo, head of the "non-Arab" division at the time of Rabin's assassination and one of those responsible for Raviv’s operation, said:

"In our discussion, we decided that the man was uncontrollable and could not be operated in this manner. But we set new operating rules, disconnection, psychological evaluation. It was clarified to him that we would not continue this way and that he would not be granted immunity for offenses he would commit. In hindsight, if we had severed contact, maybe he would have given us the murderer."[29]

Kalo denied the claims and argued that his statements in the protocol were summarized and did not accurately reflect what he had said.

The trial

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During Raviv’s interactions with Yigal Amir as an informant, the Shin Bet suspected that Raviv had not fully reported everything he knew about Amir to his handlers. Raviv was questioned on this suspicion and admitted that he had withheld information about Amir from his handlers.[30]

After it was revealed that he was a Shin Bet agent within the Israeli right-wing circles, there were calls, especially from the right, to bring him to trial. He was charged with failure to prevent a crime based on the allegation that he knew of Yigal Amir's intentions but did not report them to his Shin Bet handlers, as well as with supporting a terrorist organization (Eyal). Eventually, an indictment was filed against Raviv in April 1999 at the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court, with the second charge later being dropped. On 31 March 2003, Raviv was acquitted of all charges.[31] The judges ruled that Raviv did not know of Yigal Amir's intention to assassinate Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. The verdict included the following statements:

We were not presented with any substantial motive suggesting that the defendant knowingly and maliciously withheld information from his handlers about Yigal Amir's intention to assassinate the Prime Minister. From the entirety of the evidence presented to us, it appears that the defendant would have had a significant motivation to inform the Shin Bet about Yigal Amir's intentions—had he known them. This is because the Shin Bet was his 'entire world,' and if he had provided information that could have thwarted the assassination of the Prime Minister, he would have been regarded as a 'hero,' and his self-image and the image of him in the eyes of people important to him—that is, the Shin Bet—would have risen.

The second reason concerns the personality structure of the defendant, as we learned from various sources presented to us. The defendant was described, among other things, as a person with a childish character, of low personal level, unable to distinguish between important and trivial matters. A psychiatrist summoned as a defense witness described him as a person with a narcissistic personality disorder. From this, we conclude that he is not a person of high personal caliber, inner resilience, and self-confidence, but rather a person with a weak, somewhat dependent personality, "seeking to please," with a risk of making a false confession.

The third reason relates to the defendant's life circumstances in the eight years preceding the assassination. The verdict stated that it would not be an exaggeration to say that during the eight years of his operation as an agent, the defendant lived in a "world of lies." He was constantly pretending. He deceived those around him, his parents, his then-wife, the media, and even the Shin Bet.

Among the legal grounds for Raviv's acquittal was the difficulty in accepting the Shin Bet investigators' memorandum regarding their questioning of Raviv after the assassination as evidence in his trial, as well as the testimony of the assassin himself, Yigal Amir.

Summary of the Shamgar Commission

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In Chapter 4 of the Shamgar Commission’s report, the commission summarized its view on Avishai Raviv and his operation with the following words:

Any reasonable person understands that gathering information is essential and that those engaged in this are not necessarily righteous or well-intentioned. However, caution must be exercised regarding provocateurs who exploit the backing given to them, either due to malice in their hearts or because of a defect in their character, and who become initiators of illegal and provocative actions under government cover. Such people behave recklessly, knowing they will not be prosecuted. The state bears the harmful consequences (such as creating additional points of friction in Hebron or damaging public trust in the service, which gains a reputation as a secret organization involved in political provocations).

Consequences of Raviv's operation

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Some in the Shin Bet argued that Raviv's operation was a failure, as Raviv did not recognize the intent to harm the Prime Minister as a serious matter that should be prioritized, viewing it as a secondary issue. According to Raviv, his handlers did not bother to emphasize the importance of this matter.[32] In contrast, Raviv's handler stated that he did not regret operating him and that it was unfortunate there weren't more agents like him.[25] Hazi Kalo also claimed that Raviv's operation was not a mistake.[33]

Following Raviv’s exposure as a Shin Bet agent, a crisis of trust emerged between the Religious Zionist public and the Shin Bet, as many saw Raviv's operation as a public slander attempt against the religious community by the Shin Bet. Additionally, lessons from Raviv's operation led to various restrictions on the operation of Shin Bet agents. These factors contributed to difficulties in recruiting agents for a long time after Raviv's exposure.[34]

The Kiryat Arba Local Council filed a lawsuit against the state due to reputational damage caused by Raviv's actions. The lawsuit ended in 2008 with a settlement in which the state paid the council 10,000 NIS.[34]

Personal life

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In 1990, he married a graduate of an ulpan, a recent immigrant from Russia. They divorced in 1993. Raviv currently resides in Tel Aviv. He is divorced a second time and has three daughters.

Further reading

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  • Ran Shrir and Avi Zellinger, "The Man Who Shouted "Blank, Blank": New Revelations on the Rabin Assassination Case", 2022.

References

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  1. ^ Globes, Shmuel Dekalo, "Official: Avishai Raviv will be charged with failing to prevent Rabin's assassination and incitement," 5 November 1998.
  2. ^ [1] New York Times November 24, 1995, "On My Mind;The Agent Provocateur" A.M. Rosenthal
  3. ^ [2] New York Times November 20, 1995 "News Reports Of Informer On Far Right Jolt Israel" Serge Schemann
  4. ^ Ex-Undercover Agent Charged as a Link in Rabin Killing, The New York Times, April 26, 1999
  5. ^ Hadashot, "And what do you think of the strong hand?" 28 January 1988, p. 89.
  6. ^ Hadashot, "Unoriginal play," 10 January 1988, p. 6.1.
  7. ^ Koteret Rashit, Yaron Frid, "Biblical Heroes," 16 March 1988, p. 18.
  8. ^ Hadashot, Anat Meidan, "The poison spreads," 27 May 1988, p. 169.
  9. ^ Hadashot, Avishai Raviv, "Never Again," 14 September 1988, p. 183; Hadashot, Avishai Raviv, "The Courage of Jewish Heart," 2 October 1988, p. 107.
  10. ^ Hadashot, Yasmin Kinney, "With a press of a computer button, students at TAU will choose their representatives today," 26 December 1988, p. 50.
  11. ^ Hadashot, Yasmin Kinney, "The left at TAU won big: 73% support," 27 December 1988, p. 82.
  12. ^ For example: Hadashot, "Peace as an Excuse," 22 April 1990, p. 77; Hadashot, "Isn't it Hypocrisy?" 23 April 1990, p. 67; Hadashot, Avishai Raviv, "Effie Will Restore Glory to Its Former Status," 7 March 1990, p. 111; Hadashot, "Expel Abie Nathan," 19 March 1990, p. 88.
  13. ^ HaErev, "The Committee Against Torture: Basic Rights Denied to Yoel Adler," 5 July 1990, p. 50.
  14. ^ a b Hadashot, "Suspected as a Key Member in the Sikarikim," 30 August 1991, p. 49.
  15. ^ Hadashot, "Ten Identical Questions to Six Far-Right Activists," 25 October 1991, p. 188.
  16. ^ Hadashot, Shlomo Dror, "Kach activists wanted for suspected tire slashing," 10 June 1993, p. 24.
  17. ^ Hadashot, "Sharon: Sarid and his friends are responsible for the bloodshed. Sarid: We followed him to a stupid war," 5 October 1993, p. 50.
  18. ^ Davar, Nahum Barnea, "Radicals on the Right and Left (D): Dov is not just a first name," 16 June 1972, p. 199.
  19. ^ Globes, "Chapter D: The Avishai Raviv Affair," 14 August 2001.
  20. ^ Dvir Kariv, "Yitzhak, The Untold Story of Rabin's Assassination", Israel, 2015, pp. 153-154.
  21. ^ a b c Haaretz, Chaim Levinson, "The Spilled Champagne: New Revelations on Failures in the Handling of Avishai Raviv," 4 November 2011.
  22. ^ HaAyin Hashviit, "Were They or Weren't They," 1 December 1997.
  23. ^ Ynet, Uri Ariel, "Anything Goes for the Sake of Criticism," 5 October 2008.
  24. ^ Mako, Galit Kozva, "Code Name 'Champagne': Who Are You, Avishai Raviv?" 21 May 2023.
  25. ^ a b Ronen Bergman, "Avishai Raviv’s Handler in an Interview Before His Death: ‘Champagne’? Our Real Big Failure Was That We Didn’t Recruit More Agents Like Him," Ynet, 12 October 2024.
  26. ^ Dvir Kariv, "Yitzhak, The Untold Story of Rabin's Assassination", Israel, 2015, pp. 156-157.
  27. ^ Ynet, Efrat Weiss, "Former Shin Bet Agent Avishai Raviv Fully Acquitted," 31 March 2003.
  28. ^ NRG, Menachem Rahat, "The Right: Call for an Investigation Committee," 12 November 1999.
  29. ^ Globes, "Summary of the Protocol on Avishai Raviv Released," 11 November 2011.
  30. ^ Dvir Kariv, "Yitzhak, The Untold Story of Rabin's Assassination", Israel, 2015, p. 158.
  31. ^ Ynet, Efrat Weiss, "Former Shin Bet Agent Avishai Raviv Fully Acquitted," 31 March 2003.
  32. ^ Dvir Kariv, "Yitzhak, The Untold Story of Rabin's Assassination", Israel, 2015, pp. 158-165.
  33. ^ ""Yigal Amir Told Me: 'I Managed to Do What Many Wanted, but No One Dared'"". Ynet. 12 October 2024. Retrieved 31 October 2024.
  34. ^ a b Levinson, Haaretz, 2011.

See also

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