The Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) thwarted hundreds of terror attacks, including shootings, explosive attacks, suicide bombings and kidnappings since the start of 2022, Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid said on Thursday.

The comments were made during a ceremony to cite intelligence-operational projects for excellence.

“What the Shin Bet is doing in Jenin and Nablus is very different from what it does in the cyber sphere,” said Lapid. “The [intelligence] collection that it conducts in distant lands is very different from what it does in [the] Gaza [Strip]. The intelligence that thwarts attacks is activated against foreign powers, and this is very different from commanding complex operations for guarding people.”

Lapid said he was awed by the Shin Bet, as well as by its values, organizational culture and the fact that it is a learning organization that always tries to improve.

The prime minister said that intelligence organizations from around the world arrive in Israel on a regular basis to learn from the Shin Bet “how to fight against quantities of terrorism and threats that no Western state deals with.”

The citations were awarded for excellence, innovation, professionalism, unusual creativity, planning and professional implementation.

Operatives who took part in seven outstanding missions also received citations.