Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, on Thursday named a replacement spy chief to lead Israel’s domestic intelligence service, known as the Shin Bet, after a public clash with the last agency director.
Maj. Gen. David Zini, who “served in many operational and command positions” in the Israeli military, was appointed to lead the Shin Bet, according to a statement from the prime minister’s office. Mr. Netanyahu’s announcement is just the first step in the process, and there are already signs that the path ahead for General Zini may be fraught.
The announcement came after a confrontation with the previous agency director, Ronen Bar, whom Mr. Netanyahu fired in March and who stepped down last month while the dismissal was being considered by Israel’s highest court. On Wednesday, the high court wrote that Mr. Bar’s dismissal had been “tainted with many flaws.”
The court’s ruling also raised questions about potential conflicts of interest given that Mr. Netanyahu had fired Mr. Bar while the Shin Bet was investigating some of the prime minister’s aides in connection with potential impropriety in their dealings with Qatar.
Israel’s attorney general, Gali Baharav-Miara, on Thursday questioned General Zini’s appointment, according to Israeli news media, saying Mr. Netanyahu had defied legal guidance to hold off on choosing a new Shin Bet chief.
Ms. Baharav-Miara argued to the high court that Mr. Netanyahu had improperly fired Mr. Bar, and the attorney general has said that Mr. Netanyahu cannot proceed with appointing a new Shin Bet chief until questions about the process and conflicts of interest are resolved. In March, the Israeli cabinet began the process of trying to dismiss Ms. Baharav-Miara.
The opposition leader, Yair Lapid, in a statement on social media on Thursday, called on General Zini not to accept the appointment before Israel’s high court could weigh in.
Mr. Netanyahu has said that he lost confidence in Mr. Bar during the devastating Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks, blaming him for not preventing them. The announcement about General Zini said that in March 2023, he compiled a report for the commander of the Israeli military’s Gaza division on preparedness for “a complex surprise event,” and he had concluded that “in almost any sector, a surprise raid on our forces could be carried out.”
The Shin Bet, in a March report on the attack, assumed responsibility for failing to heed warning signs of a planned Hamas assault before the militants’ strike. But that report also partly blamed government policies as contributing factors to the attack. It said the government had allowed Hamas to accumulate arms and to raise money for its military wing through Qatar. And it pointed to the government’s reluctance to undertake offensive initiatives, including targeting Hamas leaders in Gaza.
How quickly General Zini may be able to take over the Shin Bet is unclear. A committee, led by a retired Supreme Court chief justice, must move to approve the prime minister’s selection, but that committee is short of several members, so when and whether it will be able to discuss the appointment has yet to be determined.
The attorney general’s response to the announcement also suggests that Mr. Netanyahu could face more legal resistance.
General Zini, who had the task of helping to manage a contentious Israeli military effort to draft members of Israel’s ultra-Orthodox community who were previously exempt from military service, made headlines in Israel in January after he was attacked and chased in the ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Brak, in central Israel .
Johnatan Reiss contributed reporting.
Ephrat Livni is a reporter for The Times’s DealBook newsletter, based in Washington.
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