Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday appointed the former navy commander Eli Sharvit to replace the current director of the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet), Ronen Bar, after the Supreme Court refused to freeze his dismissal. The decision was confirmed by a news agency on Monday by Netanyahu’s office, which said that Sharvit had been picked out of seven prospective candidates after an intensive selection process.
A former Vice-Admiral, Sharvit spent 36 years serving in the Israeli military and for five years as commander of the Israel Navy. He was active in leading nuclear and maritime defence programs during his leadership, and he played a key role in operating to eliminate the danger posed by Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran.
With “an ongoing lack of trust” praised as Netanyahu’s justification, Ronen Bar lost his job as Israel’s Interior Minister on March 21. However, Israel’s opposition and an NGO intervened legally, and the Supreme Court suspended Bar’s dismissal. Until its appeals are heard by April 8, the court ruled the freeze would remain in place.
Previously, Israel’s Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara had said that Netanyahu was not permitted to appoint a new Shin Bet chief in the middle of the legal proceedings. However, the prime minister is at the same time emphatic that his government was entitled to the last word on leadership of the domestic security agency.
There have been growing tensions between Bar and Netanyahu’s government, especially after Bar lashed out at the government for its security failures in its security failures following Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack on Israel. Worse came after a Shin Bet investigation into the ‘Qatargate’ scandal, which claimed Netanyahu had a goy (non-Jew) aide fork over payments to Qatar from himself.
Netanyahu defies the order of the Supreme Court, the legal brawls continue, and it is feared it shows that Israel’s security institutions are not independent, just as the government power struggle is ongoing.
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