The head of security in the Defense Ministry, Yehiel Horev, is set to retire from his position this summer. Horev, 62, has worked for the Defense Ministry since 1969 and is considered to be one of the most influential and controversial officials in the country's military establishment.

The unit Horev heads is responsible for the security of all military installations, including all military industries, the Biological Institute in Nes Tziona and the nuclear reactor in Dimona. Horev is also head of Field Security for the military establishment, which is responsible for information security as well as for preventing corruption in the defense establishment.

Horev was linked to a number of the more serious cases of espionage in Israel. He initiated investigations against Mordechai Vanunu, Prof. Marcus Klinberg of the Biological Institute and Brig.-Gen. (ret.) Yitzhak Yaakov, a former chief scientist of the defense establishment who sought to publish his memoirs.