Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has named a 30-year-long agent with the Israel security agency, Shin Bet, as the service’s new head.

On Monday, the premier tapped Yoram Cohen, the agency’s current deputy chief, to replace current director Yuval Diskin, the Associated Press reported.

“Yoram was the spearhead of activity in the agency over the past few years,” Netanyahu said.

Shin Bet is a mainstay of Israel’s intelligence apparatus alongside the spy agency of Mossad and the military intelligence.

The agency is engaged in espionage through local operatives and extraction of information from Palestinian prisoners under torture. It is also tasked with carrying out targeted killings of Palestinian leaders.

The agency has been reported to direct an Israeli espionage network in the occupied West Bank.

(Press TV)