Shin Bet Director David Zini visited Paris this week for meetings with senior French intelligence officials, with discussions reportedly addressing terrorism and radical Islam amid the recent unrest in France.

The working visit was scheduled in advance, but the riots provided an additional backdrop for talks about the security challenges facing French authorities.

Zini met with senior officials from both of France’s principal intelligence agencies: the DGSI, responsible for domestic security and considered the French counterpart to the Shin Bet, and the DGSE, the foreign intelligence service comparable to Israel’s Mossad.

The meetings took place amid diplomatic tensions between Jerusalem and Paris, as France advances measures against Israel, including a proposed ban on imports from Israeli settlements.

The Shin Bet’s experience in preventing terrorist attacks and gathering intelligence within civilian populations could provide a basis for cooperation as French security agencies confront threats involving radical Islam.

The Shin Bet declined to confirm or elaborate on the substance of the meetings, saying it does not comment on the director’s schedule.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)