Yoram Cohen New Israeli Internal Security Chief

Yoram Cohen, an Arabist with 30 years experience at Israel's internal security service, Shin Bet, has been appointed as its new director, the prime minister's office said.

Cohen, who replaces Yuval Diskin and will assume the position on May 15, was named by Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday night.

He joined Shin Bet as a field agent in 1982, and worked largely in the West Bank, although he spent a year in Lebanon.

He was responsible for running the organization’s counter-terror unit in the West Bank, and spent four years as the head of anti-terror operations in the Arab world and Iran. He also headed the Shin Beth's Jerusalem section.

From 2005 to 2008, he was deputy director of the agency, before heading to the United States. There he has been researching Islamist movements, particularly Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip.

Cohen, 51, is married and has five children. He has masters in political science from the University of Haifa and a diploma from the Israeli National Security College.

He is considered one of the key figures who shaped Israel's policy of targeted killings during the second Palestinian intifada, or uprising, that broke out in 2000.

His appointment has caused some concern in more liberal circles because he is a religiously observant Jew, and questions have been raised about whether he would deal evenhandedly with the hard right-wing settler movement.