Following questions about procedure, Israeli opposition calls for Zini to delay acceptance of Shin Bet appointment

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to appoint Maj. Gen. David Zini, to head the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet), has encountered resistance from opposition politicians over Zini’s apparent lack of experience in the intelligence field, and a leaked comment in which he apparently opposed hostage deals. However, recent revelations indicate that there could be legal challenges to the appointment as well. 

In a ruling last week, the High Court said that Netanyahu’s dismissal of Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar constituted a conflict of interest due to the investigation into the "Qatargate" affair. 

Chief Justice Yitzhak Amit wrote that Netanyahu has a "personal interest in the outcome of the proceedings" due to his close relationship with the suspects in the investigation – Yonatan Urich, Israel Einhorn, and Eli Feldstein. 

While not technically part of the “Qatargate” investigation, the Shin Bet is also looking into leaks to the German magazine BILD last summer, in which secret documents were leaked to the foreign magazine to build popular support for Netanyahu’s policies regarding the hostage negotiations. 

In a statement following his decision to appoint Maj. Gen. Zini, Netanyahu had clarified that Zini would not have oversight over the “Qatargate” investigation; however, since the BILD leak involves many of the same individuals who worked as advisers in Netanyahu’s office, there exists an apparent conflict of interest. 

A second legal challenge stems from Prime Minister Netanyahu’s decision to disregard the instruction of government legal advisor Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara ordering him to “refrain from any action related to the appointment of a new Shin Bet head until legal guidelines are formulated that will ensure the proper conduct of the process.” 

Now, a third challenge has arisen from how Prime Minister Netanyahu selected Maj. Gen. Zini. 

While the law states that the director of Shin Bet will be appointed by the government at the direction of the prime minister, that usually follows a process involving official interviews before the prime minister makes the recommendation to the government. 

Israeli journalist Doron Kadosh on Sunday morning published details of the behind-the-scenes actions in the decision to appoint Zini, which appear to indicate that Netanyahu wanted to avoid going through established procedures in appointing Zini. 

According to Kadosh’s report, when Netanyahu was visiting the Tze’elim training base in southern Israel, he asked for Maj. Gen. Zini to come speak to him in his car, and the two spoke for about an hour. 

In the vehicle convoy with Netanyahu, but in a separate vehicle was Netanyahu’s military secretary Maj. Gen. Roman Gofmann, whose official role is to serve as a liaison between the prime minister and the IDF and other security agencies. In his role, Gofmann would normally be part of any discussion over appointing an active duty military officer to the role, and be in charge of coordinating that with the IDF. 

When Gofmann decided to find out why the convoy was delayed in leaving, he saw Zini exit the vehicle with Netanyahu. Gofmann reportedly asked Zini, “What happened? Why did this situation arise?” 

Zini told Gofmann that the prime minister wanted to discuss the situation of the ultra-Orthodox enlistment, but did not mention any discussion about the appointment of the director of Shin Bet. 

After Netanyahu’s convoy left the base, Gofmann called IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir and told him that he and the prime minister discussed the haredi draft, but did not mention the offer to lead Shin Bet. 

Sometime later, Zini personally informed IDF Chief Zamir about Netanyahu’s offer, and then notified the military secretary. In between that discussion and Netanyahu’s announcement of Zini’s appointment on Thursday, Gofmann told the Prime Minister’s Office staff that it needed to schedule a formal interview with Zini, however, no interview was scheduled. 

On Thursday, shortly before making his public announcement, Netanyahu called IDF Chief of Staff Zamir to notify him that he was going to appoint Zini to the position. 

If this timeline shared by Doron Kadosh is accurate, it means that Netanyahu chose to exclude the military secretary, whose job is to coordinate such moves, and the IDF Chief of Staff, who would normally be advised ahead of time of such a decision, and could provide his own input. 

The fact that Netanyahu chose to do this after being instructed by the AG not to make any new appointments until the legal guidelines had been formulated casts a suspicion over the appointment. 

Opposition leaders were quick to attack the manner in which the prime minister made his decision. 

Right-wing opposition politician Avigdor Lieberman, head of the Israel Beitenu party, said that Netanyahu is acting out of personal interest. 

“He is the prime minister of the October 7th. He is no longer functioning as the prime minister of the citizens, he is the prime minister of his base,” Lieberman said on 103FM Radio. 

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid called out Netanyahu’s apparent conflict of interest. 

“Netanyahu has a serious conflict of interest regarding the appointment of Shin Bet chief due to the Qatargate scandal in which the people closest to him received money from an Arab country that supports terrorism. I call on General Zini to announce that he cannot accept the appointment until the High Court of Justice rules on the matter,” Lapid said in a statement. 

National Unity MK Gadi Eisenkot criticized the decision, and called on Zini to reject the offer, asking him to "be a leader and inform the prime minister that the right thing to do at this time is to wait for the attorney general's interpretation of the High Court ruling, and then allow the selection of a more experienced candidate for wartime.” 

However, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich praised Netanyahu’s choice, saying, “Major General David Zini is very suitable for the position of head of the Shin Bet, and this is exactly what is needed now to rehabilitate this important organization during this critical and challenging period of the war.” 

“He will be appointed according to the law and in accordance with the government's authority,” Smotrich continued. “Gone are the days when the right needs approval for its appointments from the commissars on the left who think the country belongs to them.”