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Arab News
27-05-2025
- General
- Arab News
Israel attorney general says PM's nomination for Shin Bet chief ‘illegal'
JERUSALEM: Israel's attorney general has said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's nomination of an army major general as head of domestic intelligence is 'illegal,' after the supreme court found his move to sack the incumbent chief unlawful. Netanyahu named David Zini as his pick to lead the Shin Bet last week, after months of legal and political wrangling over his attempt to dismiss the current chief Ronen Bar. In a letter to Netanyahu obtained by AFP on Tuesday, Attorney General Gali Baharav Miara pointed to the recent 'court decisions regarding the end of the Shin Bet director's mandate.' 'Your decision regarding major general Zini, made in a situation of conflict of interest and contradicting the conclusions of the judgment as well as the judicial directives in force, is illegitimate and illegal,' she said. The prime minister announced Zini's selection a day after the supreme court ruled the government's decision to fire Bar was 'improper and unlawful.' Netanyahu said in March that he was dismissing Bar because of an 'ongoing lack of trust.' That move was challenged in court by non-profit organizations and Israel's political opposition, which decried it as a sign of an anti-democratic drift on the part of Netanyahu's right-wing coalition government. Bar has since said he will step down in June. Following the supreme court's ruling that his firing was unlawful, Baharav-Miara had said Netanyahu 'must refrain from any action related to the appointment of a new head of the Shin Bet.' The prime minister, however, has insisted Zini be installed as soon as possible, calling it 'a security requirement of the highest order.' He has yet to publicly respond to Baharav Miara's latest letter. At least one NGO has threatened to file a challenge against the appointment, which still has to be approved by a vetting committee and the cabinet to be finalized. A legal opinion submitted to the attorney general by her deputy acknowledged the need to fill the role quickly, and suggested that a legal workaround to Netanyahu's conflict of interest would be to 'transfer the authority to another minister, who will present a candidate to the government.'
Reuters
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
Israeli PM says new intelligence chief to take office next month
JERUSALEM, May 23 (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday the newly named head of the domestic intelligence service would take office without delay next month, following a bitter row over the removal of his predecessor. "The Prime Minister is responsible for the security of the state, even more so during a multi-front war," Netanyahu said in a statement, following the appointment of Major General David Zini, head of the military's Training and Doctrine Command as head of the Shin Bet intelligence service. Zini will replace Ronen Bar, who said he would resign on June 15 following a bitter dispute with Netanyahu who tried to sack him in March before the decision was blocked by a Supreme Court temporary injunction. Last month the Supreme Court ruled that the dismissal was illegal but Bar said he would step down to allow an orderly handover. Netanyahu said when he announced the dismissal in March that he had lost confidence in Bar over Shin Bet's failure to prevent the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel. The move drew a furious reaction from critics who said the real reason for Bar's dismissal was an investigation by police and Shin Bet into possible financial ties between a number of close aides of the prime minister and Qatar. The affair sparked large demonstrations in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem by protesters who said Netanyahu was undermining democracy by trying to sack Bar while the so-called "Qatargate" investigation was underway. Earlier this month, the Supreme Court ruled that Bar's dismissal was done in violation of the law, and that Netanyahu had a conflict of interest over the Qatargate investigation. Bar had always accepted responsibility for Shin Bet's failure in forestalling the October 7 attacks and had said he would leave his post early. Netanyahu said any delay in appointing a new head of the agency, which conducts counterterrorism investigations, was a "security requirement of the highest order, any delay harms the security of the state and the security of our soldiers". The standoff over the head of Shin Bet followed more than two years of hostility between Netanyahu supporters and elements of the security and defence establishment that was worsened by blame over the failures that allowed Hamas' October 7 attack. On Friday, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement that Zini would be leaving the military in the coming days and that any discourse between serving soldiers and the government had to be approved by the chief of the general staff, indicating the appointment had been made without its knowledge. The issue has been one of the most prominent battlegrounds between the government and an array of anti-Netanyahu groups who have attacked him over issues ranging from plans to curb the power of the judiciary to the failure to agree a hostage deal in Gaza. Zini's appointment was condemned by opposition parties and by the attorney general, Gali Baharav-Miara, who said Netanyahu was acting against legal guidance and that there were serious conflict of interest concerns. Baharav-Miara has herself clashed repeatedly with Netanyahu over the legality of some of his policies and the cabinet has approved a no-confidence motion. In a sign of how poisoned the political atmosphere has become in Israel, Defence Minister Israel Katz said he had barred opposition politician Yair Golan, a former deputy head of the Israeli military who now leads the small left-wing Democrats party, from serving in the reserves. Golan, who single-handedly rescued people from the Hamas attack on Israel after driving to the scene on October 7, 2023, warned this week that Israel risked becoming a "pariah state" over the war in Gaza, and said "a sane country does not fight against civilians, does not kill babies as a hobby". Katz said the comments amounted to a "blood libel" and would expose Israeli soldiers to being arrested by international courts when travelling abroad. "I have decided to instruct the IDF not to call Yair Golan up for reserve duty anymore and to prohibit him from wearing the IDF uniform and entering IDF bases," Katz said in a statement.
Hindustan Times
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Defying SC order, Israel PM Netanyahu appoints IDF Major David Zini as next Shin Bet chief
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has named IDF Major General David Zini as the next chief of Shin Bet. This appointment, however, comes as a direct violation of the order passed by the Israeli Supreme Court's High Court of Justice. Netanyahu's announcement of a new Shin Bet chief comes a day after the High Court of Justice ruling that the firing of Ronen Bar was done "improperly" and "unlawfully". In the ruling, attorney general Gali Baharav-Miara stated that the prime minister had a conflict of interest in Bar's removal. Furthermore, in her ruling, the attorney general stated that the prime minister was barred from appointing a new chief while the case was in the court. In response to the top court's ruling, Netanyahu described the decision as "disgraceful" and dismissed the attorney general's warning. Netanyahu's appointment of a new Shin Bet chief also comes after Ronen Bar announced that he would resign from the post and step down by June 15, 2025. Netanyahu fired the Shin Bet chief over a 'a loss of confidence." However, Ronen Bar hinted that political motives were behind his sacking and he further accused the prime minister of seeking 'personal loyalty." Major General David Zini currently serves as the head of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) training command and general staff corps. The father of 11 children is also responsible for advancing the draft of Haredi soldiers in the Israeli military. After his appointment, Zini was dismissed from the IDF for allegedly holding talks with Netanyahu behind the back of IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir, reported the Times of Israel.
Al Arabiya
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Netanyahu says new security chief must be appointed ‘as soon as possible'
Israel's premier said Friday his pick for the next domestic intelligence chief should be appointed 'as soon as possible,' but would have no hand in an ongoing investigation into his associates. Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to tap army Major General David Zini to lead the Shin Bet -- which follows months of legal and political wrangling over his attempt to sack incumbent head Ronen Bar -- has already sparked threats of a legal challenge. 'It is imperative to name a permanent head of the Shin Bet as soon as possible,' a statement from Netanyahu's office said. 'It is a security requirement of the highest order, and any delay infringes on the security of the state as well as that of our soldiers.' The prime minister announced Zini's selection on Thursday night, a day after the supreme court ruled the government's decision to fire current security chief Bar was 'improper and unlawful.' The announcement defied Baharav-Miara, who had said that given the court ruling, the premier 'must refrain from any action related to the appointment of a new head of the Shin Bet.' 'Flawed' process Following the announcement, the attorney general said there was 'serious concern that he (Netanyahu) acted while in a conflict of interest, and the appointment process is flawed.' In March, Netanyahu said he was dismissing Bar because of an 'ongoing lack of trust.' That move was challenged in court by non-profit organizations and Israel's political opposition, which decried it as a sign of anti-democratic drift on the part of Netanyahu's right-wing coalition government. Bar himself suggested that his ouster was linked to investigations into Hamas's deadly October 7, 2023 attack on Israel 'and other serious matters.' He has since said he will step down in June. In a brief statement, the Israeli military said on Friday that its top commander, Eyal Zamir, had 'decided on MG David Zini's retirement from military service in the upcoming days,' and thanked him for his 'lengthy service.' The statement added that Zamir 'reiterates that any discourse conducted by IDF soldiers with the political echelon must be approved by the Chief of General Staff!' The tone of the statement prompted speculation in Israeli media that Zini, once seen as a potential military chief himself, had been fired.
The National
23-05-2025
- Politics
- The National
Israeli PM names new security chief in defiance of attorney general
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced his pick for the next head of the Shin Bet domestic security agency, defying the country's attorney general's legal guidance. "Prime Minister Netanyahu announced this evening his decision to appoint Major General David Zini as the next head of the Shin Bet," a statement from his office said. The decision is the latest development in a long-running controversy surrounding the role, which has seen mass protests against the incumbent chief's dismissal, as well as against moves pushed by Mr Netanyahu's government to expand elected officials' power to appoint judges. The Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled the government's decision to fire current domestic security chief Ronen Bar was "improper and unlawful". Mr Netanyahu's move to tap Zini to replace Bar directly defied Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, who had said that, given the court ruling, the PM "must refrain from any action related to the appointment of a new head of the Shin Bet". Following Thursday's announcement, the attorney general released a statement saying that the PM was acting "contrary to legal guidance". "There is serious concern that he acted while in a conflict of interest, and the appointment process is flawed," the statement said. Mr Zini, 51, the son of immigrants from France and the grandson of a Holocaust survivor, has held "many" operational and command positions in the Israeli military, Thursday's announcement said, including for some elite units and combat brigades. The announcement comes after more than two months of political and legal wrangling over who should head the powerful agency. Mr Bar announced last month that he'd step down in mid-June amid the fight over Netanyahu's effort to dismiss him. On Thursday night, several large protests in Tel Aviv calling for the end of the war in Gaza and the release of hostages spontaneously shifted to demonstrations against Mr Zini's appointment.
