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JUNE 24, 2021 | The Jewish Home OCTOBER 29, 2015 | The Jewish Home
The Rabbi Who Ran an Undercover Intelligence Unit Rabbi Tzachi Fenton Talks about Advancing Israel’s Cause in the Arab World BY TZVI LEFF
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t’s Friday morning, which means that it’s time for Rabbi Tzachi Fenton to release his weekly dvar Torah. From the study of his home in Elkana, a Religious Zionist community in Samaria, Rabbi Fenton sets up his laptop, and begins. “Shabbat Salam, Ya Jamiah Al-Kheir,” begins Fenton in his fluent Palestinian-dialect Arabic. “Hal-Usbua Rah-Nikrah Parshat Tazria-Metzora.” The 53-year-old father of six goes on to explain the biblical prohibition of spreading gossip, highlighting the importance of watching one’s tongue. Rabbi Fenton then shares the short minute-long video clip on social media, where it quickly racks up 74 thousand views within days. His Torah commentary soon sparks religious dialogue. “The Torah is distorted; it is full of myths,” comments Nuwaf, whose Twitter profile identifies him as a resident of the Islamic holy city of Medina in Saudi Arabia. “Do you want to learn or do you want to debate?” Rabbi Fenton replies back in Arabic. Rabbi Fenton started releasing his short Arabic-language sermons as a way to expose the Arab world to Judaism following the Abraham Accords, a historical breakthrough that saw Israel establish diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco. “I disseminate, every week, a dvar Torah on the parsha, a verse, and its explanation in Arabic along with a timely anecdote. It is already being viewed by tens of thousands of people from the Persian Gulf, including Saudi Arabia and Kuwait,” Rabbi Fenton said in an interview with The Jewish Home. “You see people responding with curses and insults but many also accept it with nuance – they listen and are interested. It’s a beautiful thing to see,” he continued. Nothing encapsulates Rabbi Fenton’s two professional personas more than his Ara-
bic-language Torah sermons. Today, Rabbi Fenton is a community rabbi who manages a Kollel in Petah Tikva while simultaneously running Bareket, a private business intelligence firm. But prior to that, Rabbi Fenton ran agents for years in Arab countries as a case manager for one of Israel’s most secretive intelligence units. This unit is so secret that its name cannot be mentioned in this article; it was until recently one of the country’s “invisible units” which officially do not exist. This unit is tasked with collecting human intelligence, running undercover agents throughout the Arab world, and penetrating Israel’s most lethal adversaries. Case managers must frequently infiltrate enemy territory in order to recruit and debrief agents and are guarded by a secretive commando unit tasked with protecting them. Officers sometimes pay the ultimate price for their work on behalf of G-d and country. During the Second Intifada, a senior officer in the unit was gunned down by his agent during a debriefing near Bethlehem. With only a few dozen operational case managers at any given time – far smaller than corresponding units and agencies – its successes are legendary despite its size. In 2018, the unit received a coveted official commendation from the head of IDF Military intelligence for a series of operations it ran overseas in the preceding years.
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orn to a British father and Israeli mother, Rabbi Fenton received a classic Jerusalem Religious Zionist upbringing. After graduating high school, he studied in Yeshivat Hakotel as part of the hesder program combining military service and Torah study. Following 18 months in yeshiva, Fenton drafted into the Givati Infantry Brigade. Fenton soon rose through the ranks. Beginning as an ordinary conscript, he was quickly sent to Sergeants School and was promoted
again and again. By the time he left the IDF five years later, Fenton had reached Company Commander, a position making him responsible for 80-100 troops. After leaving the IDF, Fenton returned to the study hall. He planned to become a rabbi and had almost completed his studies for the Rabbinate ordination exam at Yeshivat Maale Adumim when he received a call from an unknown number. “They approached me from one of the units in the Israeli intelligence community and requested that I join their ranks,” recounted Fenton. “I passed their long screening and testing process and joined.” There, Fenton was taught “everything,” from Islam and Arabic to the fine art of running agents. Other parts of the training regimen included learning about the different religious and cultural norms prevalent in the Middle East. “After this grueling yet fascinating training course, I began working as a case manager running agents in Arabic countries,” said Rabbi Fenton, going on to call the job “fascinating; something that brings out your creativity, cleverness, and daring.”
