Rare access to Israel’s Witness Protection Authority reveals how it erases identities, relocates witnesses abroad under new names and even alters appearances, while managing constant assassination threats from crime organizations and enforcing total separation from past lives Shosh Mula|This is exactly the scenario everyone feared.The senior state witness had already been transferred abroad, accompanied by overt and covert security personnel from the Witness Protection Authority. Inside the authority, such a complex operation — transferring a threatened witness under a false identity with a full security package for a life abroad — is called a “launch.”6 View gallery Danny Capuya with his team (Photo: Tal Shahar)But just before the final step, as one was entering the destination country, an Israeli criminal happened to pass by completely by chance, recognized the witness and continued on his way.At the intelligence command center of the Witness Protection Authority — operating from a secret location in central Israel — intelligence began arriving about the incident. It quickly became clear that the criminal had indeed recognized the witness and that he had ties to the crime organization the witness had turned against.The entire launch operation was suddenly at risk of collapsing. In the destination country, housing, employment, complex security arrangements and countless details had been prepared over months. But if he was identified, his life would be in danger.Meanwhile, reports continued to arrive. It became clear that the criminal had already contacted members of the organization and told them where the man they would most want to see in one condition — dead — was located.Danny Capuya, head of the Witness Protection Authority, was forced to make a rapid and decisive decision and order an emergency extraction of the witness from the country where he had been identified. That meant restarting the entire launch operation from scratch.Capuya: “From the moment we received intelligence indication, we decided to move him immediately to another country.”Was there an indication they were trying to assassinate him?“Yes, because an intent to eliminate him had begun to develop in the field.”This is exactly the scenario the authority does not want to see: one of the witnesses in the program — they call each such witness a “protected” or an “asset” — being assassinated. Each “protected” person in the program — the exact number is classified — is at Threat Level 6, the highest level, meaning a concrete and real threat to their life, an “open contract” on their head. If they are identified and located, it is not a question of if they will be assassinated, but when.The case of the witness identified abroad ended without harm. He was transferred to another country and received a new identity and a new life. Just another routine day of work in this secret security organization, whose methods remain largely unknown.But this week, in a rare step, the authority agreed to open a window into the war it fights 24/7 against the most powerful crime organizations in the country. One mistake and the witness loses his life, but that is not all. The only people capable of testifying and sending Israel’s crime godfathers to prison would be too afraid and choose silence — and when people remain silent, there is no law and no justice. It is that simple and that complex.The law enforcement system struggles to find answers, and one of the main solutions is focusing on turning criminals into state witnesses. They are usually hardened offenders — many deeply involved in serious crime themselves — but only they can testify in court and describe what their bosses did.The problem is that crime organizations quickly understood the system had a new weapon against them, and witnesses began to be eliminated. Nissim Yamin, a witness against Yossi Harari, was killed in 2004; Yoni Elzam was poisoned in his prison cell in 2005 before testifying against Shimon Zrihan; Eyal Selahov was murdered in an orchard in 2006 after serving as an informant inside Avi Ruahan’s organization. There were more.To protect the most threatened witnesses, the Witness Protection Authority was established in 2008, then under the Ministry of Public Security, today the Ministry of National Security. The authority protects witnesses from the moment they enter the program — usually after agreeing to become state witnesses — through the sensitive period of testimony in court, and into their new lives abroad.Dozens of witnesses have joined since. “Only this year the number doubled,” reveals Capuya.Capuya himself, 51, grew up in Lod alongside some of the country’s leading criminals and could easily have been one of the “assets” he now protects. But at home, his parents made sure the children would not go down that path.“Our parents used to check our pockets to make sure we weren’t carrying drugs, because everyone in the neighborhood had them, and my family was an island of sanity,” he recalls. “You make your choices every day, and I chose not to become a criminal.”After combat service in the Nahal Brigade, he joined the Shin Bet and served in operational roles abroad. At 33 he was recruited into the newly established authority and has remained there since, rising through its ranks. His last role was head of the authority’s security division, and in October 2024 he was appointed head of the authority.Have you ever had to protect childhood acquaintances?“In the 512 case there were protected individuals I grew up with, such as the main state witness Shimon Cohen, known as ‘Bombi,’ and the witness known as ‘the Netanyanian.’ On the other hand, I also knew those on the other side, like crime boss Yitzhak Abergil and his brother Meir.”6 View gallery Yitzhak Abergil (Photo: Guy Assayag)And how did they react when they saw you?“Some didn’t recognize me at first. With others I talked about old Lod.”Capuya was the one who handled the first state witness brought into the authority when it was founded. “It was a witness in the ‘North Star’ case, a 108-kilo cocaine import case from Panama involving soldiers in the organization of Zeev Rosenstein and Amir Moolner.”The witness implicated 15 defendants in various offenses of drug trafficking, importation, forgery and other crimes. No evidence was found against Moolner sufficient for indictment, but the witness did implicate Rosenstein, who was accused of ordering a triple murder at the Shaldag beach restaurant on the Sea of Galilee in 2001. Rosenstein was eventually convicted in a plea deal in 2011 only of conspiracy to commit a crime.6 View gallery Zeev Rosenstein (Eran Yuppy Cohen)Since then, the authority has taken in dozens more witnesses. But not every state witness is eligible to enter the program.“The recommendation to accept a state witness comes only from the police and the prosecution. This is not a program on demand,” Capuya explains. “There are three criteria: first, threat level — only Level 6; second, public interest — the testimony must significantly damage organized crime; third, suitability — each candidate undergoes strict psychological evaluation. Anyone with addictions to alcohol, drugs or gambling is not accepted.”Even if they testified against major crime organizations?“There have been rare cases. We must remember these are products of the criminal world, so you cannot expect normative behavior. In some cases we accepted people who underwent a structured rehabilitation process and passed the program.”He adds that even lower-level witnesses are only accepted if they are at Threat Level 6, otherwise other protection bodies handle them. “The goal is to dismantle organized crime, and the greater the public interest, the more significant the program becomes.”Once an agreement is signed, the authority protects the witness during testimony in Israel. But the real project begins afterward, when they must be relocated — often with their families — and given entirely new identities and lives abroad.Capuya: “Before relocation, witnesses go through intensive life-skills courses, language training in the destination country, cultural orientation and vocational training. If needed, we even help them get a driving license and learn a profession from scratch. We currently have witnesses working as truck drivers, crane operators and forklift operators. They need to work to support themselves.”So what do they live on abroad? A forklift salary?“In the end, they have different sources of income. Some receive compensation under their agreement with the police, others have private funds. Beyond that, they receive ongoing financial support from the State of Israel until their official contract with the authority ends.”And physical appearance changes?“That’s a force multiplier that can save a witness’s life. We remove every identifying feature — tattoos, even replacing tattoos, changing hairstyles, hair color, glasses, clothing, professional makeup. Sometimes we perform surgical procedures to obscure scars or completely change identity. We simply turn these people into other people.”