In swift U-turn, Netanyahu nixes nomination of Shin Bet head amid opposition from allies
Just 24 hours after announcing pick, PM recants ‘after further thought,’ say he’ll interview other candidates; Gantz: Move shows ‘political pressure overrides good of the country’
Just 24 hours after it was announced, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday morning that he was backtracking on his decision to appoint Vice Adm. (res.) Eli Sharvit as the next head of the Shin Bet.
Netanyahu’s office said that the prime minister met Sharvit on Monday evening to tell him that he would not be the next head of the security service, following a whirlwind day of criticism of the nomination both in Israel and abroad.
“The prime minister thanked Vice Adm. Sharvit for his willingness to serve,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement, “but informed him that after further thought, he intends to interview other candidates.”
Netanyahu announced Sharvit on Monday morning as his choice to replace Ronen Bar at the head of the agency, in a move that raised eyebrows both given Sharvit’s reported participation in anti-government protests and ongoing questions — including High Court petitions — surrounding Bar’s dismissal during a criminal probe into associates of the prime minister.
In the initial announcement Monday, Netanyahu said he had made the decision to tap Sharvit, a former Navy chief, after interviewing “seven worthy candidates.”
Netanyahu faced pressure throughout Monday from political allies to scratch Sharvit’s nomination, due to his participation in massive protests in 2023 against the government’s plans to overhaul the judiciary. By early Monday afternoon, reports were already swirling that he was likely to undo the selection.
Sharvit also spoke publicly in favor of a 2022 territorial water agreement with Lebanon, which Netanyahu — then the opposition leader — had opposed, and earlier this year, he penned an opinion piece criticizing US President Donald Trump for his climate policies.
On Monday, US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a staunch Israeli ally, tweeted that the selection of Sharvit as Shin Bet chief was “beyond problematic” due to his anti-Trump remarks.
In a statement by Sharvit circulated by the PMO Tuesday morning, he said that he was “asked by the prime minister to take on the role of head of the Shin Bet and to continue serving Israel at this difficult time — and so I did.” Nevertheless, he added in the oblique remarks, “serving the good of the country, its security and the safety of its citizens will always be above all else.”
The Prime Minister’s Office did not announce a new nominee for the position. The appointment of Sharvit came as a surprise on Monday, since he was not among the four candidates previously announced.
Netanyahu is looking to replace Bar, who was formally fired by the cabinet earlier this month but who remains in his post thanks to a temporary injunction imposed on his dismissal by the High Court of Justice, which is hearing petitions against the firing. Though the court froze Bar’s firing, it allowed Netanyahu to interview candidates to replace him.
Netanyahu said he had lost faith in the Shin Bet chief following the Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023, when thousands of terrorists stormed southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages, sparking the war in Gaza.
Critics of the prime minister have accused him of seeking to fire Bar due to an ongoing Shin Bet probe of alleged ties between Netanyahu’s top aides and Qatar, which backs Hamas. They note that Netanyahu cooperated closely with Bar for over a year after the onslaught, and that Bar had been part of Israel’s negotiations team for a ceasefire and hostage deal.
In response to the abrupt U-turn on Tuesday, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid slammed Netanyahu for his zigzagging.
“The head of the Shin Bet is not just another appointment,” wrote Lapid. “It’s not a job that you announce and then regret 24 hours later because of some yelling. It’s the holy of holies. This is a violation of national security.”
National Unity party chief Benny Gantz tweeted that “Netanyahu proved it again this morning: To him, political pressure overrides the good of the country and its security.”
Religious Zionism MK Simcha Rothman, a staunch Netanyahu ally, tweeted on Tuesday to defend Netanyahu’s rethinking of the initial decision.
“The ability of an elected official to reverse a decision that the public does not like, or when his attention is drawn to it, is the heart of democracy,” wrote Rothman.
The Times of Israel Community.