Zohar Palti
International Fellow, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy; Former Director, Mossad Intelligence Directorate
Zohar Palti is the former Head of the Policy and Political-Military Bureau at Israel's Ministry of Defense and Former Director of Intelligence of the Mossad. Currently, Zohar is a consultant at the "Electrom" Group. He is an international fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy in Washington, D.C. and a member of the Advisory Board of UANI (United Against Iran). Mr. Palti (58) was drafted to the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) in 1982 and served in various field and analysis positions in the Israeli Defense Intelligence. He transferred to the Mossad in 2006 and held various senior positions, including Counter Terrorism Chief and Director of Intelligence. In 2017, Mr. Palti was appointed by the Israeli Government as the Director of Policy and Political-Military Bureau at the Ministry of Defense, a position he held until recently. Mr. Palti holds a BA and MA (summa cum laude) in Middle Eastern Studies from Tel Aviv University. He studied in the National Defense University (NDU) in Washington, D.C. and was a senior research fellow at Harvard University. Throughout his extensive career, Mr. Palti was awarded various citations and honors from the Israeli and American Intelligence community. Upon his retirement earlier this spring, Palti was awarded the U.S. Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service "for his major contribution to bolstering U.S.-Israel strategic defense relations.” He is married to Michal and they have two children both serving as officers in the IDF.
