Ex-Shin Bet chief: Netanyahu asked me to ‘disqualify’ Bennett from security cabinet
Yoram Cohen says PM claimed ‘loyalty issue’ with Bennett, who himself charges PM tried removing him over 2014 aim to ‘finish’ Hamas; PMO decries ‘fake news’; Cohen also files High Court declaration
Former Shin Bet chief Yoram Cohen said Monday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked him to “disqualify” his political rival Naftali Bennett from his security cabinet by revoking his security clearance, citing a case of an unspecified “loyalty problem” while Bennett was serving in the army.
Cohen served as head of the Shin Bet from 2011 to 2016, a period during which Netanyahu helmed several successive cabinets; the timing of the alleged request, which was quickly disavowed by the Prime Minister’s Office, was unclear.
“The prime minister called me privately and told me, ‘Listen, information came to me recently about Bennett. He was removed as an officer of the Sayeret Matkal unit due to a loyalty problem — so he can’t sit in the cabinet,’” Cohen told Army Radio, adding that the prime minister did not even ask him to confirm the case.
“He asked me to disqualify him from the cabinet because of this, due to security clearance. I said to him, ‘Tell me, are you serious about this demand?’ Firstly, why is something from 30 years ago relevant to what we are talking about now? Secondly, I will not do anything like this,’” Cohen recounted.
During Cohen’s time as Shin Bet chief, Bennett served in several government positions, including as education minister, economy minister and religious services minister, and participated in the political-security cabinet.
“The fact that a prime minister approaches the Shin Bet chief… asks him to use his power to disqualify a political opponent, is that not shocking? Is that not disturbing?” continued Cohen. “So I happened to say no. What would have happened if someone else had said yes?”
Former prime minister Bennett wrote on Facebook that Netanyahu wanted to dismiss him from the security cabinet during Operation Protective Edge in 2014, after he insisted the government “finish the job” and destroy Hamas. He rebuffed claims that he was removed from his officer’s position in the IDF’s elite Sayeret Matkal unit.
“Yoram Cohen today exposed Netanyahu’s lies and his paranoia about me,” the ex-prime minister wrote on Facebook. “I wanted to eliminate Hamas, Netanyahu wanted to eliminate me.”
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid said in response that the interview with Cohen was “nothing short of an earthquake.”
“Netanyahu tried to use the Shin Bet to fabricate plots and eliminate a political opponent. This is not how a prime minister behaves, this is how the head of a criminal organization behaves,” Lapid wrote on X.
A statement to journalists issued by Netanyahu’s office claimed the former Shin Bet chief invented the story to paper over alleged misconduct under its current head Ronen Bar, who is facing dismissal by the government.
“Another round of transparently fake news from Yoram Cohen, who has turned into a politician and who is trying to cover up the corruption within the Shin Bet under Ronen Bar, through ridiculous lies.”
Last week, Bar penned a letter to the High Court of Justice alleging Netanyahu urged him to tell judges to disallow the prime minister from regularly testifying in court during his corruption trial for security reasons.
Bar said that his refusal to heed the premier’s request led to a breakdown in trust between the two, leading to his eventual dismissal by the cabinet in March. His sacking was subsequently frozen by the High Court of Justice, which is set to hear petitions on the matter Tuesday.
In the letter sent Friday, Bar said he adhered to his job’s requirement of maintaining “professional independence,” rather than acting out of “personal loyalty” to the premier.
“The head of the Shin Bet is not the trusted servant of the prime minister or any other diplomatic or political figure,” he wrote.
Cohen files declaration to High Court
Hours after his radio interview concerning Bennett, former Shin Bet chief Cohen filed a declaration to the High Court of Justice detailing what he said were two attempts by Netanyahu to have him use his powers within the domestic security agency for illegitimate purposes.
The filing was submitted to the High Court by the Movement for Quality Government in Israel, as supporting evidence for its petition against the decision by Netanyahu and the government to fire current Shin Bet chief Bar.
Cohen said that, in 2013, Netanyahu asked him to use intelligence tools to monitor anyone who was party to knowledge of an impending Israeli operation in a hostile country until the operation was completed. Cohen said he declined, telling Netanyahu it was inappropriate for the Shin Bet to use tools designed for spying missions and to prevent terror attacks against “hundreds” of members of Israel’s intelligence agencies, including their heads.
Separately, in 2014, Cohen said Netanyahu asked him to remove the security clearance for then-cabinet minister Bennett, due to what he said was an unspecified “loyalty problem” while Bennett was serving in the army. Cohen said in his declaration that he told the prime minister he would not comply, upon which Netanyahu told him to drop the issue. Cohen said the allegation against Bennett was unfounded.
Last week, Bennett, who is widely believed to be preparing to run in the next national election, announced the registration of a new political party under the temporary name “Bennett 2026.”
Bennett, who led the now-defunct right-wing Yamina party, has been out of office since the 2022 collapse of his diverse coalition government, which in 2021 ousted Netanyahu from the premiership after 12 consecutive years.
Recent polls show his new party beating Netanyahu’s Likud if elections were held today.
Following Bennett’s announcement, Likud MK Avichai Boaron told Radio Kol Barama that following the Knesset’s current Passover recess, he would submit a bill banning extended credit to a politician for the purposes of establishing a new party until his previous party’s debts have been covered.
The proposed bill is widely seen as a personal law intended to stymie the candidacy of Bennett, a serious rival to the Likud’s dominance.
Sam Sokol contributed to this report.
The Times of Israel Community.