Amid recent alleged attacks on both Israeli and Iranian shipping vessels, and on the backdrop of US attempts to bring the Islamic Republic back to the nuclear negotiating table, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin landed in Israel Sunday morning. It marked the first time that a senior official in US President Joe Biden’s administration made an official visit to the Jewish state.
Prior to Austin’s arrival, an Iranian government spokesperson announced that an “incident” had occurred at the Natanz nuclear facility.
Ms. Sima Shine and Col. (res.) Eldad Shavit, will discuss the latest developments on the Iranian front, Washington-Tehran relations, and their impact on Israeli policy making.
Ms. Sima Shine is currently the head of the Iran program at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS). For most of her career, she served in the Israeli intelligence community. Shine’s last position was as head of the Research & Evaluation Division of the Mossad. In this capacity, she was in charge of the production of both daily and periodical evaluations of Middle Eastern and international issues, led security and intelligence dialogues with various counterparts in the international community, and was involved in meetings with political and military decision makers. After her retirement from the Mossad, Shine served as Deputy Head of Strategic Affairs in Israel’s National Security Council, and then in the Ministry of Strategic Affairs, where she was responsible, inter alia, for the Iranian file and was Deputy Director General.
Col. (res.) Eldad Shavit joined the INSS in 2017. Among other posts, he served as assistant for assessment to the chief of the Research Division of the IDF Intelligence Corps. From 2011 to 2015, Shavit was the head of the Research Division in the Prime Minister’s Office. Prior to that, he served as head of the intelligence unit at the Office of the Military Secretary to the Prime Minister and Defense Minister.
