AG’s office: Incoming Shin Bet chief must consult legal adviser on matters affecting PM’s interests

A legal position paper filed with the government by the Attorney General’s Office on the appointment of David Zini as the next Shin Bet chief asserts that Zini must consult the Shin Bet’s legal adviser before dealing with any issues connected to the personal or political concerns of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Deputy Attorney General Orli Fishman, who authored the legal opinion includes this stipulation in the position paper due to the finding of the advisory committee which approved Zini’s appointment that Netanyahu had made requests of former Shin Bet chiefs “which are not appropriate in a democratic regime.”

Fishman writes that although there were legal difficulties with Zini’s appointment connected to the Qatargate investigations against Netanyahu’s aides, there are no legal obstacles to his taking office as head of the Shin Bet.