- The British Department, headed by Moshe Bar-Ilan, was later re-
named the Political Department. Its task was to derive information
from the offices and archives of the Criminal Investigation Depart-
ment (CID) of the British police. - The Jewish Department, headed by Katriel Katz and later by Isser
Harel, was renamed the Internal Department in 1947 at the sugges-
tion of David Ben-Gurion. It was also known as the Revisionist or Se-
ceders’ Department. - The Communist Department was headed by Dr. David Arian.
- The Arab Department was headed by Ze’ev Sherf.
- The Technical Department, headed by Chaim Wilander, was engaged
in preparing forged documents, opening sealed mail, and the like.
The Shai’s departmental system remained in effect with hardly any
changes until the body was disbanded soon after the State of Israel
was established in May 1948.
Despite the fact that most of its members were lacking in formal in-
telligence experience, it appears that the Shai was well organized and
was able to penetrate most areas necessary for obtaining intelligence.
The Shai had the benefit of a considerable number of Arabic-speaking
Jews of Arab appearance, most of whom had been born in Arab coun-
tries. Some were sent back to their countries of birth as Israeli agents,
and some infiltrated Palestinian Arab villages and towns inside the bor-
ders of the British Mandate, all for purposes of collecting information.
Although informers were known for delivering information that the
handler wanted to hear, even if it was not always true, in order to col-
lect their payment, the Shai did engage in some successful operations.
One was deciphering the “imperial code,” used for cables of the highest
political importance dispatched to London. Another was obtaining the
plans of the bridges between Palestine and its neighbors in preparation
for the “Night of the Bridges,” on 17 June 1946, when the bridges were
blown up by Haganah forces. Yet another was obtaining the British plan
of attack against the leaders of the Yishuv and the Haganah from a
British officer who was an informer. During the major operation known
as “Black Saturday,” which took place on 29 June 1946, two weeks af-
ter the Night of the Bridges, the British confiscated weapons and docu-
ments from Jews, and some 2,700 people were arrested and jailed in a
special internment camp at Rafiah (see TERRORISM).INFORMATION SERVICE/SHERUTH YEDIOTH• 12106-102 (03) H-P.qxd 3/24/06 7:24 AM Page 121