Brace up!!! Devil’s Advocate is about to get more powers. The new proposal says the intelligence oversight body would fall directly under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s authority.

This “Ifcha Mistabra” or “devil’s advocate” unit would report solely to Netanyahu and hold the power to request intelligence from any state intelligence agency or institution in Israel, including military intelligence, the Shin Bet, Mossad, and the National Security Council.

Per the bill, the unit’s mission would be to integrate and critically evaluate this intelligence, offering the prime minister, defense minister, and intelligence services fresh, alternative perspectives on security issues. It would also be bound to regularly update the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.

Functioning as an impartial oversight tool, this unit would rigorously “test the waters of established wisdom” within the intelligence and security realms.

The unit’s director—operating with considerable autonomy and restricted from hiring anyone with intelligence experience within the last two years—would be legally obliged to provide input on any issue presented to the security cabinet for decision-making.

Though a similar devil’s advocate function currently exists within the IDF, its impact has been minimal, and it has failed to significantly challenge entrenched thinking, says Likud MK Amit Halevi, the primary backer of the proposal.

Israeli media says, the head of the Ipcha Mistabra—known as the Devil’s Advocate Unit—challenged the prevailing belief that Hamas had been effectively deterred. Twice in last September, they communicated this warning to top military and political decision-makers, reiterating the same concerns two more times in IDF discussions.

The Devil’s Advocate Unit was established following the Yom Kippur War as part of the Agranat Commission’s recommendations. Its role is to critically and professionally assess intelligence assumptions and outputs, serving as a “devil’s advocate” to challenge prevailing perspectives.

The Ministerial Committee for Legislation deliberated on the proposals of the bill on 10th Nov.