Brig. Gen. (Res.) Sima Vaknin Gill is a former intelligence officer in the Israeli air force, served as the Chief Censor of the State of Israel and is a former Director General of the Ministry of Strategic Affairs and Public Diplomacy. Sima is an Expert in intelligence work, data and research-based action and campaigns, the de-legitimization campaign against Israel, the BDS movement, and antisemitism. Sima joined the Israel Air Force in 1984 and served for more than 20 years in various positions in the Research and Operational Intelligence departments. During that time she was involved in dozens of complex operations, in low and high-intensity conflicts and directly oversaw major operational and intelligence initiatives in the Air Force and the IDF.
In 2005 Sima was appointed Chief Censor of Israel by the Defense Minister and IDF Chief of Staff, charged with the protection of Israel’s security secrets and interests and balancing that with freedom of expression. After retiring in July 2016, she was appointed by the Government as the Ministry of Strategic Affair Director-General; she formulated the strategy of the campaign against delegitimization and BDS, created and ran the Task Force in the ministry and oversaw all of the ministry’s activities, foremost among them, its operations to counter delegitimization and BDS.
Sima holds a B.A. in Middle Eastern Studies and International Relations and an MA in National Security Studies from the National Defense College.