TV7 Israel: Watchmen Talk – “Man in the Shadows” - Former Mossad Chief Amb. Efraim Halevi - Part 1
To launch the Watchmen Talk series, TV7 Israel is honored by a conversation with Ambassador Efraim Halevi - the only person in Israel’s history to head both its intelligence agency MOSSAD and Jerusalem’s National Security Council.
He was recalled from his Brussels post as Israel’s Ambassador to the European Union and NATO in order to resume his Mossad career, and served under three Prime Ministers (Benjamin Netanyahu, Ehud Barak and Ariel Sharon).
English-born, his soft-spoken air of gentlemanly clubs and colleges added to his image as an "Israeli Smiley," John Le Carre’s spymaster. Halevi's book, “Man in the Shadows: Inside the Middle East Crisis with a Man Who Led the Mossad” is a treasure trove of secrets and anecdotes.
Ambassador Halevy will emerge from the shadows in the first episode of TV7 Israel: Watchmen Talk with Amir Oren.
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“I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, [which] shall never hold their peace day nor night” (Isaiah 62:6)
They are the men and women who have stood guard over Israel. When their countrymen slept, these Watchmen could be counted on to fight for Israel and its capital, Jerusalem, on its numerous fronts. Now, one by one, they are coming to TV7’s Jerusalem studio for in-depth interviews by TV7 Analyst and Host Amir Oren, a veteran observer of the Israeli - and global - defense and government scenes.
They will share their stories, insights and some revelations in a way sure to enlighten our viewers who are encouraged to keep these topics in prayer ~ Psalm 122.
TV7 Israel: Watchmen Talk – “Man in the Shadows” - Former Mossad Chief Amb. Efraim Halevi - Part 1
To launch the Watchmen Talk series, TV7 Israel is honored by a conversation with Ambassador Efraim Halevi - the only person in Israel’s history to head both its intelligence agency MOSSAD and Jerusalem’s National Security Council. He was recalled from his Brussels post as Israel’s Ambassador to the European Union and NATO in order to…
TV7 Israel: Watchmen Talk – Former Mossad Chief & MK, IDF Maj. Gen. (ret) Danny Yatom (Part II)
Please join host Amir Oren for the second of a two-part interview with former Israeli Knesset Member and IDF Major General (ret) Danny Yatom. After more than three decades in the Israeli Defense Forces leading Commando and Armor units up to division level, Gen. Yatom was appointed as head of Israel’s renowned Mossad national intelligence…
TV7 Israel: Watchmen Talk – Israeli Space Agency Chairman, Maj. Gen. (Ret) Isaac Ben-Israel
Prof. Isaac Ben-Israel is the Chairman of the Israeli Space Agency and the National Council for Research and Development, following a distinguished career as an IDF General, scientist and politician. The member of a longtime Air Force family was twice awarded the prestigious Israel Defense Medal for helping to build create one of the world’s…
TV7 Israel: Watchmen Talk – Former Mossad, National Security Advisor Dr. Uzi Arad (Part I)
Please join host Amir Oren for the first of a two-part interview with Dr. Uzi Arad, who formerly served for more than 2 decades as Director of Research and senior liaison at Israel’s Mossad national intelligence agency. After being appointed as Foreign Policy Advisor to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Dr. Arad participated negotiations with neighboring…
TV7 Israel: Watchmen Talk – “Man in the Shadows” - Former Mossad Chief Amb. Efraim Halevi - Part 2
In this second conversation with Ambassador Efraim Halevy, former Mossad Chief and the first guest in our Watchmen Talk series, the intelligence and secret diplomacy veteran shares with TV7’s Amir Oren his impressions of the several Israeli Prime Ministers for whom he served; and Jordan’s King Hussein, who befriended the London-born head of Israel’s espionage…
TV7 Israel: Watchmen Talk – Former Mossad Chief & MK, IDF Maj. Gen. (ret) Danny Yatom (Part I)
Please join host Amir Oren for the first of a two-part interview with former Israeli Knesset Member and IDF Major General (ret) Danny Yatom. After more than three decades in the Israeli Defense Forces leading Commando and Armor units up to division level, Gen. Yatom was appointed as head of Israel’s renowned Mossad national intelligence…
TV7 Israel: Watchmen Talk – former IDF Dep. Chief, Amb &Minister Maj.Gen. (res.)Matan Vilnai (PartI)
Please join us for the first of a two-part interview with Matan Vilnai, whose last official position was as Israel’s Ambassador to China, after having served as a Member of Knesset and Cabinet Minister under Prime Ministers Ehud Barak and Ariel Sharon. He is most known for his distinguished military career as a bold and…
TV7 Israel: Watchmen Talk – Israel's Energy Minister and Security Cabinet Member Yuval Steinitz
Amir Oren interviews Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz, one of only two members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet to have served continuously over the last dozen years. Dr. Steinitz, a philosophy scholar by training, has held the Finance, Intelligence and Strategic Affairs portfolios, as well as the chair of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee…
Please join host Amir Oren for a special interview with Col. (res.) Gabriel “Gabi” Siboni, who is the director of the Military and Strategic Affairs Program and Cyber Security Program at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) and editor of the INSS Cyber, Intelligence and Security journal. Col. Siboni is also the Chief Methodologist…
Please join us for the first of a two-part interview with Brig. Gen. Effi Defrin, an Armor officer by training and combat experience, who heads the International Co-operation Division in the Israel Defense Forces General Staff. The General is in charge of liaison with foreign Defense Attaches based in Tel Aviv, with Israeli attaches abroad,…
TV7 Israel: Watchmen Talk – Navy Head of Operations Admiral Daniel Hagari (Part I)
Please join host Amir Oren for the first of a two-part interview with Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari. As a Naval Commando throughout most of his career, Hagari is the senior operations staff officer under Israel’s Navy Chief. Rising through the ranks of the Shayetet 13 Israeli Seals naval reconnaissance to ‘dive and demolish in order…
TV7 Israel: Watchmen Talk – Lt. Gen. (ret.) Dan Halutz, former IDF Chief of General Staff (Part II)
Please join us for the second part of an interview with a special guest, who has a unique perspective on Israel’s challenges. He is retired Lieutenant General Dani Halutz, the first and still only Air Force pilot to serve as the Israel Defense Forces Chief of General Staff (“Ramatkal” in Hebrew), a command position usually…
TV7 Israel: Watchmen Talk – Former Mossad, National Security Advisor Dr. Uzi Arad (Part II)
Please join host Amir Oren for the second of a two-part interview with Dr. Uzi Arad, who formerly served for more than 2 decades as Director of Research and senior liaison at Israel’s Mossad national intelligence agency. After being appointed as Foreign Policy Advisor to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Dr. Arad participated negotiations with neighboring…
TV7 Israel: Watchmen Talk – Former IDF Surgeon General Brig. Gen. (ret) Dr. Tarif Bader
Please join host Amir Oren for an interview with former IDF Surgeon General Brig. Gen. (ret) Dr. Tarif Bader, whose background reflects the unique make-up of Israeli society by uniting the military, medical and minority sectors. Born and raised in the Galilee Druze village of Hurfeish, he attended medical school under the auspices of the…
TV7 Israel Watchmen Talk - BG (Res.) Itai Brun - Air Force, Military Intelligence (part 1)
After Israel’s Air Force has revamped its Intelligence Division, following serious shortcomings in the 1973 war, some of the IDF’s best thinkers and planners came up through the ranks to senior Air Force Intelligence positions and then transitioned to broader capacities on the General Staff. Itai Brun moved up from Air Force Intelligence’s Chief of…
TV7 Israel: Watchmen Talk – Navy Head of Operations Admiral Daniel Hagari (Part II)
Please join host Amir Oren for the second of a two-part interview with Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari. As a Naval Commando throughout most of his career, Hagari is the senior operations staff officer under Israel’s Navy Chief. Rising through the ranks of the Shayetet 13 Israeli Seals naval reconnaissance to ‘dive and demolish in order…
TV7 Israel: Watchmen Talk – Lt. Gen. (ret.) Dan Halutz, former IDF Chief of General Staff (Part I)
Please join us for the first of a two-part interview with a special guest, who has a unique perspective on Israel’s challenges. He is retired Lieutenant General Dani Halutz, the first and still only Air Force pilot to serve as the Israel Defense Forces Chief of General Staff (“Ramatkal” in Hebrew), a command position usually…
TV7 Israel: Watchman Talk - BG (ret.) Avigdor Kahalani; Armored Division Commander & war hero-Part I
Please join host Amir Oren for the first of a two-part interview with Avigdor Kahalani, one of Israel’s best-known Armor commanders, retired as a Brigadier-General after leading fighting and training on all levels, from a single tank crew to platoon to company to battalion to brigade to division. Badly wounded in the Six-Day War, when…
TV7 Israel: Watchmen Talk - LTG (Ret.) Ehud Barak, Israel’s former Prime Minister (Part I)
Please join host Amir Oren for the first of a three-part interview with Ehud Barak. If there is one Israeli who deserves to be the proverbial man who needs no introduction, it is Ehud Barak. For some 35 years a soldier, in the next 25 years or so moving in and out of politics, Barak…
TV7 Israel: Watchmen Talk – fmr. IDF Dep. Chief, Amb & Min. Maj. Gen. (res.) Matan Vilnai (Part II)
Join us for the second of a two-part interview with Matan Vilnai, whose last official position was as Israel’s Ambassador to China, after having served as a Member of Knesset and Cabinet Minister under Prime Ministers Ehud Barak and Ariel Sharon. Amb. Vilnai is most known for his distinguished military career as a bold and…
TV7 Israel Watchmen Talk – USMC Gen. (Ret.) Frank McKenzie, Recently Retired U.S. CENTCOM Commander
Please join host Amir Oren for an interview with United States Marine Corps Gen. (Ret.) Kenneth Franklin McKenzie, Jr., who recently retired from his position as the 14th commander of the US Central Command (CENTCOM), which has purview over most Arab countries and Iran; as well as most recently Israel, where he was in close…
TV7 Israel: Watchmen Talk – Dr. Uzi Rubin, former IMoD Head of Missile Defense (Part I)
Please join host Amir Oren for the first of a two-part interview with Dr. Rubin, who is a prominent expert on missile defense and the resilience of Israel’s home front. Dr. Rubin was the founder and first director (1991-1999) of the Israel Missile Defense Organization in the Israel Ministry of Defense (IMoD), which developed, produced…
TV7 Israel Watchmen Talk – Col. (Ret.) Dr. Eran Lerman, Former Senior Intelligence Officer
Please join host Amir Oren for an interview with Dr. Lerman, the Co-host of TV7 Middle East Review, a Powers-in-Play Panelist, Vice President of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, as well as the Editor in Chief of the Jerusalem Strategic Tribune. Dr. Lerman held several important posts in IDF Military Intelligence, including service…
Please join us for the second of a two-part interview with Brig. Gen. Effi Defrin, an Armor officer by training and combat experience, who heads the International Cooperation Division in the Israel Defense Forces General Staff. The General is in charge of liaison with foreign Defense Attaches based in Tel Aviv, with Israeli attaches abroad,…
TV7 Israel: Watchmen Talk – Israel Police Commissioner (Ret) Maj. Gen. Shachar Ayalon (Part II)
Please join host Amir Oren for the second of a two-part interview with Major General (Ret.) Shachar Ayalon, who retired from Israel’s National Police as Deputy Commissioner General, with vast experience in public security, law and order. Ayalon has been a founding-member of the elite SWAT team YAMAM, trained in hostage situations and other sensitive…
TV7 Israel: Watchmen Talk – Dr. Uzi Rubin, former IMoD Head of Missile Defense (Part II)
Please join host Amir Oren for the second of a two-part interview with Dr. Rubin, who is a prominent expert on missile defense and the resilience of Israel’s home front. Dr. Rubin was the founder and first director (1991-1999) of the Israel Missile Defense Organization in the Israel Ministry of Defense (IMoD), which developed, produced…
TV7 Israel Watchmen Talk – Israeli Ambassador Danny Ayalon
Please join host Amir Oren for an interview with Ambassador Ayalon, Co-host TV7 Middle East Review, Powers-in-Play Panelist, NYU Lecturer, former Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister and Ambassador to the United States. While Ambassador Ayalon is a regular on TV7News, this time he is here in his personal capacity as a Foreign Service officer turned Deputy…
TV7 Israel: Watchmen Talk - LTG (Ret.) Ehud Barak, Israel’s former Prime Minister (Part II)
Please join host Amir Oren for the second of a three-part interview with Ehud Barak. If there is one Israeli who deserves to be the proverbial man who needs no introduction, it is Ehud Barak. For some 35 years a soldier, in the next 25 years or so moving in and out of politics, Barak…
TV7 Israel: Watchmen Talk– BG (ret) Uzi Eilam, former head Israel Atomic Energy Commission (Part II)
Please join host Amir Oren for the second of a two-part interview with former Israel Atomic Energy Commission Director Uzi Eilam, who is also a retired IDF Brigadier General who commanded various military units during his service to IDF. Gen. Eilam has been closely involved in many of the most crucial decision-making events in the…
Please join host Amir Oren for the first of a two-part interview with IDF Maj. Gen.(res) Gershon Hacohen, who is known throughout the Israeli military community as uniquely thoughtful, articulate - and opinionated. As one of the first officers of a religious-upbringing to reach the top tier of the IDF, Hacohen served in the 1973…
TV7 Israel: Watchmen Talk –Brig. Gen. (Res) Relik Shafir, IAF pilot & Commander, Operation Opera -P1
Please join host Amir Oren for the first of a two-part interview with Ace IAF Fighter Pilot, Brig. Gen. (Res) Relik Shafir. Gen. Shafir is a member of the select company of IAF fighter pilots with a distinguished record of an “Ace,” having downed at least five enemy planes in dogfights and participating in important…
TV7 Israel: Watchmen Talk – Israel Police Commissioner (Ret) Maj. Gen. Shachar Ayalon (Part I)
Please join host Amir Oren for the first of a two-part interview with Major General (Ret.) Shachar Ayalon, who retired from Israel’s National Police as Deputy Commissioner General, with vast experience in public security, law and order. Ayalon has been a founding-member of the elite SWAT team YAMAM, trained in hostage situations and other sensitive…
TV7 Israel: Watchmen Talk –Brig. Gen. (Res) Relik Shafir, IAF pilot & Commander, Operation Opera -P2
Please join host Amir Oren for the second of a two-part interview with Ace IAF Fighter Pilot, Brig. Gen. (Res) Relik Shafir. Gen. Shafir is a member of the select company of IAF fighter pilots with a distinguished record of an “Ace,” having downed at least five enemy planes in dogfights and participating in important…
TV7 Israel: Watchmen Talk – BG (ret) Uzi Eilam, former head Israel Atomic Energy Commission (Part I)
Please join host Amir Oren for the first of a two-part interview with former Israel Atomic Energy Commission Director Uzi Eilam, who is also a retired IDF Brigadier General who commanded various military units during his service to IDF. Gen. Eilam has been closely involved in many of the most crucial decision-making events in the…
TV7 Israel Watchmen Talk – BG (Ret.) Amnon Sofrin, Former Mossad Chief of Intelligence (Part I)
Please join host Amir Oren for first of a three-part interview with Amnon Sofrin, who started his military career as an infantryman, taking part in some of the fiercest fighting during the 1973 Yom Kippur War. After suffering battle wounds, he shifted to the Intelligence Corps where he rose through the ranks to serve in…
TV7 Israel Watchmen Talk - Col. Richard Kemp CBE (Part I)
Please join host Amir Oren for the first of a two-part interview with Colonel Richard Kemp, who formerly headed the international terrorism intelligence team of the British Cabinet Office. Discussion focuses on Col. Richard Kemp’s earned status as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE), the highest award in recognition of service.…
Please join host Amir Oren for the second of a two-part interview with IDF Maj. Gen.(res) Gershon Hacohen, who is known throughout the Israeli military community as uniquely thoughtful, articulate - and opinionated. As one of the first officers of a religious-upbringing to reach the top tier of the IDF, Hacohen served in the 1973…
TV7 Israel Watchmen Talk – Brig. Gen. (Res.) Hanan Gefen, former Unit 8200 Chief
The Israel Defense Forces produced several excellent organizations, perhaps most notably the Air Force, Paratroopers, Armor and Special Force. Lately, in light of its much-lauded record, one unit of the Military Intelligence Corps has gained particular prominence: Unit 8200, Israel’s National Security Agency (or Government Communications Headquarters) and Cyber Command. Please join host Amir Oren…
Please join host Amir Oren for the second of a two-part interview Avigdor Kahalani, one of Israel’s best-known Armor commanders, retired as a Brigadier-General after leading fighting and training on all levels, from a single tank crew to platoon to company to battalion to brigade to division. Badly wounded in the Six-Day War, when he…
TV7 Watchmen Talk - Admiral Rob Bauer, Chairman of NATO’s Military Committee
“I am the boss of no-one,” jokes Admiral Rob Bauer of the Royal Netherlands Navy, Chairman of NATO’s Military Committee, on a visit to Israel in late September. Bauer, a likable 61-year-old who came to Brussels from heading the Dutch armed forces, is so popular among his 31 fellow Chiefs of Defense that they granted…
TV7 Israel Watchmen Talk – BG (Ret.) Amnon Sofrin, Former Mossad Chief of Intelligence (Part II)
Please join host Amir Oren for the second of a three-part interview with Amnon Sofrin, who started his military career as an infantryman, taking part in some of the fiercest fighting during the 1973 Yom Kippur War. After suffering battle wounds, he shifted to the Intelligence Corps where he rose through the ranks to serve…
TV7 Israel Watchmen Talk – Former IDF Operations Chief, MG (Res.) Israel Ziv (Part I)
Please join host Amir Oren for the first of a two-part interview with Major General (Res.) Major General Israel Ziv, who retired some years ago as a career officer but is on call for frequent advice to his younger brothers-in-arms. First and foremost a paratrooper from enlistment as a private soldier to running the infantry…
TV7 Israel Watchmen Talk – Amb. Itzhak Levanon, Fmr. Israeli Envoy to Egypt (Part I)
Please join host Amir Oren for the first of a two-part interview with distinguished Israeli diplomat Itzhak “Izik” Levanon. Born in Beirut to the Cohen family, he decided to adopt a more Israeli name after immigrating to Israel. He naturally chose “Levanon,” which is the Hebrew version of Lebanon. Levanon came to Israel following the…
TV7 Israel Watchmen Talk – Amb. Reuven Merhav, former Mossad, ISA Agent (Part I)
Please join host Amir Oren for the first of a two-part interview with Amb. Reuven Merhav. Merhav has literally been all over the world on behalf of the Israeli government, serving in Ethiopia, Kenya, Lebanon and Hong Kong, having the unique experience of seeing half-dozen national security organizations from within. As a soldier, he fought…
TV7 Israel: Watchmen Talk – Former IDF COGAT, Major Gen. (ret.) Eitan Dangot (Part I)
Please join host Amir Oren for the first of a two-part interview with retired Maj. Gen. Eitan Dangot, who came up through the Artillery Branch, fought alongside paratroopers in Lebanon, commanded and trained fire units, was a Defense Attache in the Netherlands, served as Chief of Staff in the Home Rear Command and served as…
TV7 Israel Watchmen Talk – BG (Res.) Yuval Bazak, Commands and Concepts (Part I)
Please join host Amir Oren for the first of a two-part interview with Brigadier General (Res.) Yuval Bazak, who served as an Infantry officer in the Golani Brigades and other command positions in the Israel Defense Forces for more than 30 years. While leading Israeli troops from platoon to brigade levels, he conducted counter-terror campaigns…
TV7 Israel: Watchman Talk - Rear Admiral (ret.) Prof. Shaul Chorev, Atomic Energy, Haifa U. (Part I)
Please join host Amir Oren for the first of a two-part interview with Admiral-turned-Professor Chorev who is probably Israel’s most knowledgeable and dedicated advocate of maritime awareness and investment in military and civilian dimensions alike. Chorev had a unique naval career, commanding a landing ship, missile boats and submarines. When he took off his white…
TV7 Israel Watchmen Talk - Maj. Gen. (Res) Mickey Edelstein - Fmr IDF Attaché to Washington (Part I)
Please join host Amir Oren for the first of a two-part interview with IDF Maj. Gen. (Res.) Mickey Edelstein. Maj. Gen. Edelstein recently officially retired as a career officer, although he is still often called up for active reserve duty. The creative and thoughtful former Infantry, Paratrooper and Commando leader. His command as high as…
