National Security Council (Israel)

The National Security Council (NSC) (Hebrew: המועצה לביטחון לאומי‎‎ HaMo'atzah leBitachon Leumi) is Israel's central body for coordination, integration, analysis and monitoring in the field of national security and is the staff forum on national security for the Israeli Prime Minister and Government. However, national security decisions typically made by in other countries are handled by the Security Cabinet. The Council draws its authority from the government and operates according to guidelines from the Prime Minister.

The NSC was established in 1999 by the office of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu following Government Resolution 4889, in the framework of drawing lessons from the Yom Kippur War. Its responsibilities were anchored in law starting in July 2008, partly as a response to the Second Lebanon War.

Article 7 of the Government Law of 2001 states that "the Government will have a staff, established by the Prime Minister, to provide professional consulting in the fields of national security; the Prime Minister is authorized to entrust the staff with additional consulting fields."

Government Resolution 4889, dated March 7 1999, established the National Security Council. The Government resolution specified, among others, that:

The National Security Council is the Prime Minister's and the Government's staff forum in the field of national security. The roles of the NSC, as stipulated in the Government Resolution, are as follows:

Among the Council's functions are: strategic advisement to the Prime Minister, offering security recommendations to the government, joint direction and coordinations of the security arms as well as inspection and supervision of decision-making related to the security bodies. Other functions include long-term planning of security approaches, and maintaining cooperative and coordinative relations with the national security elements of selected countries.

The NSC also maintains high-level diplomatic communications with world powers.

The NSC formulates alternatives for Israeli policy on the political process and relationships with:

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