Any barriers set by the court to appointing Maj.-Gen. (res.) David Zini as head of the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) would constitute “security irresponsibility” and a “disconnect from national needs,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu argued in a court filing.
The filing was the prime minister’s response to a petition by several families of victims of the October 7 Hamas massacre against the legal hurdles set by the High Court of Justice and attorney-general regarding Zini’s appointment.
In particular, the petition opposed a legal opinion by Deputy Attorney-General Gil Limon from May 27 that said Netanyahu could not appoint the next Shin Bet head due to a conflict of interest, as the agency is currently investigating a number of close advisers for illegal ties to Qatar.
According to Limon, Netanyahu had to delegate the authority to a different minister, who must begin the appointment process anew.
Then-Shin Bet head Ronen Bar’s resignation came into effect on June 15, and Limon enabled Netanyahu to appoint Bar’s deputy, known as “S,” as interim Shin Bet head for one month.
In a previous filing in a related court case, Netanyahu rejected Limon’s assertion regarding his conflict of interest. The prime minister argued that he was not a suspect in the “Qatargate” investigation and, therefore, did not have a conflict of interest. However, he said he would ban Zini from dealing with that investigation in any way.
In Monday’s filing, the prime minister, via lawyer Michael Rabello, expanded on the argument.
He repeated his view regarding the conflict of interest and added the argument that if Limon was willing to allow the prime minister to appoint an interim Shin Bet head, all the more should he be allowed to appoint a permanent one.
The prime minister requested that a ruling be issued with enough time to appoint Zini prior to the end of S’s tenure on July 15 and repeatedly argued that the appointment was a matter of national security.
According to Netanyahu, “The State of Israel has an uppermost interest in the perfect functioning of the top political-security echelon at all times, but all the more so during such a complex war on so many fronts.”
He continued that “only the prime minister has the qualifications to choose the Shin Bet head most suitable for national security. Placing barriers on the immediate appointment of a [permanent] Shin Bet head that can work in perfect coordination with the prime minister, in the midst of the war, for esoteric reasons, which are inherently wrong, constitutes a security irresponsibility and expresses a disconnect from national needs. This cannot be accepted even for one more day.”
The High Court hearing was originally scheduled for Wednesday but was delayed on Monday by Chief Justice Isaac Amit due to emergency regulations. The delay irked Justice Minister Yariv Levin, who accused Amit of intentionally delaying so as to trip up the government. Levin did not provide proof of this claim.
Netanyahu had previously requested that the court enable him to begin the process of appointing Zini while the proceedings were ongoing.
The appointment requires a vetting process by a statutory committee chaired by retired chief justice Asher Grunis and must be preceded by a minimum of five days to enable the public to file reservations against the appointments.
What is the history of David Zini's appointment?
The prime minister announced on May 22 that he had decided to appoint Zini to the position while he was still in active IDF service.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir was notified of Zini’s appointment just minutes before it was announced publicly and did not take part in the decision-making process. Zamir removed Zini from his position soon after.
The prime minister on March 30 announced that the next Shin Bet chief would be former IDF naval chief V.-Adm. (ret.) Eli Sharvit.
However, the prime minister recanted and canceled the appointment the next day, reportedly after discovering that Sharvit had participated in protests against the government’s controversial 2023 judicial reforms.
Netanyahu sped up the process to replace Bar in February as investigations into his aides, including Eli Feldstein, Yonatan Urich, and Srulik Einhorn, were intensifying.
The prime minister argued that the two were unrelated and that he had planned to fire Bar all along as soon as Bar finished internal investigations of the October 7 failures.
However, in a signed affidavit to the High Court, Bar wrote that the reason he was being fired was the investigation into Qatargate and that there had been no previous indications that he would be fired.
Bar also revealed a series of alleged breaches of authority by Netanyahu, including attempts to use the Shin Bet to gather information regarding leaders of the protest movements.