Avi Dichter (Hebrew: אבי דיכטר) (born: December 4, 1952) is an Israeli politician, former head of the Shabak, and member of the Knesset. He is number five on Kadima's list. Hebrew (עִבְרִית ‘Ivrit) is a Semitic language of the Afro-Asiatic language family spoken by more than seven million people in Israel and Jewish communities around the world. ... December 4 is the 338th day (339th on leap years) of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1952 (MCMLII) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Shabak emblem Defender who shall not be seen The Shabak (in Hebrew, שבכ (help· info)) an acronym of ShérÅ«t ha-BÄ«tāhōn ha-KlālÄ« שירות ביטחון כללי) known in English as the Shin Bet (which was how the Shabak was known in Israel in its early days) or the... The modern Knesset building, Israels parliament, in Jerusalem Though similar-sounding, Beit Knesset (בית כנסת) literally means House of Assembly, and refers to a synagogue. ... Kadima (Hebrew: קדימה, QādÄ«māh, forward) is a centrist/centre-right Israeli political party. ...

Dichter was born in Ashkelon and was a member of Hashomer Hatzair. During his military service, he served in Sayeret Matkal, and refused the offer of his unit commander, Ehud Barak, to participate in an Officer Course (a position entailing less direct combat situations). He received the Israeli equivalent of a Medal of Honor for his role in rescuing a team from behind enemy line. Ashkelon or Ashqelon (Hebrew אַשְׁקְלוֹן; Standard Hebrew Ašqəlon; Tiberian Hebrew ʾAšqəlôn; Arabic عسقلان (help· info); Latin Ascalon) was an ancient Philistine seaport on the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea just north of Gaza. ... Hashomer Hatzair (or Hashomer Hatsair or HaShomer HaTzair) (Hebrew: The Young Guard or Guardian [that is] Young) is a Zionist-socialist youth movement founded in 1913 in Galicia (now in Poland) and was also the name of the groups political party in the Yishuv in the pre-1948 British... Sayeret Matkal (Hebrew: סיירת מטכל - General Staff Reconnaissance unit) is the elite special forces unit of the Israeli Defence Force (IDF). ... Ehud Barak (Hebrew: אֵהוּד בָּרָק) (born February 12, 1942, in Mishmar HaSharon kibbutz, then British Mandate of Palestine) is an Israeli politician and was the 10th Prime Minister of Israel from 1999 to 2001. ... An officer is a member of a military service who holds a position of responsibility. ... Three different versions of the Medal of Honor are awarded: one each for the Army, Navy, and Air Force. ...

After his release from the IDF, he joined the Shabak and studied the Arabic language. In 1992, he was appointed to head the Shabak's southern sector, during which time Hamas chief bombmaker and leader Yahya Ayyash was killed. In 1996, after the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, Dichter was appointed to head the Shabak's Protection Branch (the Israeli equivalent of the Secret Service), and in 1999, he was nominated as Deputy Director of Shabak. The Israel Defense Forces are part of the Israeli Security Forces. ... 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... Yahya Ayyash (يحيى عياش; March 6, 1966 - January 5, 1996) was a member and chief bombmaker of the Hamas organization. ... Targeted killing is a controversial strategy whereby anticipated acts of terrorism are prevented by killing a person deemed to be related to those acts. ... 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... USSS redirects here. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ...

In 2000, he was nominated by his former commanding officer, Prime Minister Ehud Barak, as Director of Shabak. This was during the Al-Aqsa Intifada period, which was an especially demanding time for the organization, which spearheaded counter-insurgency and intelligence operations. Along with being a staunch advocate for targeted killings of terrorist leaders, Dichter was one of the founders of the West Bank barrier. This article is about the year 2000. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The wreckage of a commuter bus in West Jerusalem after a suicide bombing on Tuesday, 18 June 2002. ... Counter-insurgency is a term for governmental police and/or military operations against terrorist and/or insurgent groups. ... Intelligence (abbreviated or ) is the process and the result of gathering information and analyzing it to answer questions or obtain advance warnings needed to plan for the future. ... The barrier route as of May 2005. ...

In May 15, 2005, Dichter finished his five-year term as head of Shabak and retired from the service. He was replaced by his Deputy Director, Yuval Diskin. There was some speculation that he was not given a second term due to his opposition to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's unilateral disengagement plan. Following the end of his tenure as Shabak leader, Dichter took a three months sabbatical in the United States at the Brookings Institution's Saban Center for Middle East Policy in Washington. Upon his return to Israel, Dichter praised Sharon's disengagement plan and announced that he was joining Kadima. Dichter’s participation in Kadima represents his first foray into politics. He was elected to the 17th Knesset in the legislative election of 2006, and with the formation of a coalition government led by Kadima, Dichter will become Israel's Interior Minister. May 15 is the 135th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (136th in leap years). ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... For more detail of Sharons recent illness, see Illnesses of Ariel Sharon. ... A map illustrating the four phases of the Gaza disengagement plan. ... The Elections for the 17th Knesset were held in Israel on 28 March 2006, following an agreement between the Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, and the new Leader of the Israel Labour Party, Amir Peretz. ...