Historical Dictionary of Israeli Intelligence

GIBLI, BINYAMIN (1919– ).Born in Petah Tikva, Israel, Gibli was

a member of the Haganah underground militia prior to the establish-

ment of the State of Israel in May 1948. In the early 1940s Gibli was

an officer of the Information Service(Shai) in the southern district,

and from April to July 1948 he served in the Shai’s northern district.

On 29 June 1948 Gibli was one of the judges in a field court-martial

that sentenced Meir Tobianski to death on the charge of treason (see

TOBIANSKI AFFAIR). Gibli was head of combat intelligence in the

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) (1948–1949) and deputy director of Mil-

itary Intelligence(MI) with the rank of lieutenant colonel.

In 1950 Gibli succeeded Colonel Chaim Herzogas the director of

MI with promotion to colonel. The MI was then a department in the

General Staff. Upon his appointment Gibli reorganized the depart-

ment, chiefly by the reactivation of Unit 131against Egypt. In De-

cember 1953, during Gibli’s term as director, the MI became a direc-

torate in the General Staff instead of a department. The Bad Business

occurred during his term as MI director.

From 1955 to 1956 Gibli served as chief of staff of the IDF North-

ern Command. During the Sinai Campaignin October 1956, Gibli

commanded the Golani Brigade. He was appointed deputy to the

head of the IDF Central Command in 1959 and later became the Is-

raeli military attaché successively in the United Kingdom, the United

States, and the Scandinavian countries. Gibli retired from the IDF as

a result of the Lavon Affair and went into business.

GIL, YEHUDA (1934– ).Gil’s father was a Jewish officer in the Italian

army who continued to serve when the Fascists took power. In the

1930s, after Italy forged ties with Nazi Germany, the Italian chief of

staff in an attempt to protect Jewish officers transferred them to distant

parts of the Italian empire; thus Gil was born in Libya. From his child-

hood Yehuda Gil demonstrated his talent for languages. He spoke flu-

ent Arabic and Italian, as well as other languages, like a mother tongue.

After arriving in Israel some time after the establishment of the

State of Israel, Gil was drafted into the Israel Defense Forces. Because

of his versatility with languages, he was sent to Military Intelligence

(MI). After completing his army service, Gil started his career in the

Mossadin 1970 as a junior case officer handling agents as sources for

information. He also taught Mossad cadets a course called “Lying as

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