Shin Bet the non-governmental Peoples' Voice initiative to petition the governments in Israel and the Palestinian Authority for a permanent settlement. In 2007, the service launched its first ever public recruitment drive, unveiling a "slick Web site" and buying on-line ads in Israel and abroad in a campaign aimed at "attract[ing] top-tier computer programmers" to its "cutting-edge" IT division. On March 18, 2008, it was announced that Shabak's official website would also offer a blog, where four of its agents would discuss anonymously how they were recruited, and what sort of work they perform; they would also answer questions sent in by
Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service of the service. One tradition that was not maintained was the selection of the Chief from the ranks of the Royal Navy. Although Smith-Cumming and Sinclair both had long Navy careers, Army veteran Stewart Menzies was appointed over naval officer (and Churchill's preferred candidate) Gerard Muirhead-Gould. Plans to rotate the selection of Chief among the various branches of military service were considered, but most subsequent Chiefs have been career intelligence officers. Although the existence of the Secret Intelligence Service, much less its Chief, was not officially acknowledged until 1992, the role's reality was an open secret for many years. In