Netanyahu appoints new security chief despite legal advice he can't

Tel Aviv [Israel], May 24 (ANI/TPS): A power struggle between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the country's legal system escalated when he appointed Maj.-Gen. David Zini as the next director of the Israeli Security Agency (Shin Bet) on Thursday evening.
The appointment came one day after the High Court of Justice and Attorney General ruled Netanyahu had a conflict of interest in the appointment.
"Maj.-Gen. Zini has served in many [Israel Defense Forces] operational positions and commands, including: A fighter in the General Staff Reconnaissance Unit, commander of the IDF Golani Brigade Battalion 51, Commander of the Egoz Unit, Commander of the Alexandroni Brigade, founder of the Commando Brigade, and Commander of the Training Command and the General Staff Corps," the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement.
Shortly after the announcement, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara said she had not been informed and that Netanyahu violated legal guidance.
"There is a serious concern that he acted when he was in a conflict of interest, and the appointment process is flawed," she said.
Legal petitions challenging the appointment are expected to be filed.
On Wednesday night, the High Court ruled against the government's controversial dismissal of Shin Bet director Ronen Bar.
"The government failed to provide a factual basis for removing the Shin Bet chief," wrote Court President Justice Isaac Amit in a sharply worded majority opinion. "At best, it rested on a thin and shaky foundation. At worst, it was arbitrary."
The ruling further stressed that the Shin Bet's independence is vital for maintaining Israel's democratic institutions and that Bar's dismissal represented a "neglect of basic concepts concerning the Shin Bet and the position of its director as an apolitical and independent state official who owes, first and foremost, a duty of loyalty to the public."
Though Bar had already announced his resignation effective June 15 and the government technically withdrew its decision to fire him, the court ruled that the matter was of such public importance that it warranted a binding legal interpretation regardless.
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara responded swiftly, informing Netanyahu that due to the court's finding of a conflict of interest -- arising from active Shin Bet investigations into the prime minister's close associates and their relationship with Qatar -- he was barred from appointing Bar's successor until new legal guidelines were established.
"The court found that the prime minister acted in a conflict of interest," Baharav-Miara wrote. "Therefore, he must refrain from any steps concerning the appointment of a new Shin Bet director until legal instructions are established to ensure the process is conducted properly. These will be formulated in the coming days."
But Netanyahu lashed out at the decision, calling it "disgraceful" and accusing the court of overreach.
"This ruling harms Israeli democracy and national security," the Prime Minister declared, insisting that he would move forward with appointing a new Shin Bet head regardless of the attorney general's directive.
Netanyahu and Bar have been blaming each other over what was known before Hamas' October 7 attack and whether it could have been prevented, as well as the "Qatargate" scandal. Bar claims that Netanyahu's decision to dismiss him was influenced by a conflict of interest related to the ongoing investigation. The government argues that Bar should have resigned after the agency completed its internal investigation in March.
The Shin Bet, Israel's domestic intelligence service, is responsible for counterterrorism, counterintelligence, internal security, VIP protection, and cybersecurity. The only Shin Bet director to ever leave before the end of his five-year term was Carmi Gillon, who resigned in the aftermath of the 1995 assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. (ANI/TPS)