Eisenkot urges Zini to tell PM he won’t accept Shin Bet chief appointment

National Unity MK and former IDF chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot calls on Maj. Gen. David Zini to turn down Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s appointment for him to serve as the next Shin Bet chief.

In an open letter to Zini, Eisenkot says he was put in a similar situation in 2011 when Netanyahu offered him to become the next IDF chief. Eisenkot turned the premier down because he wasn’t a deputy chief of staff at the time and that he wanted to wait until he was more senior. Eisenkot was appointed to the position in 2015.

Eisenkot goes on to sharply criticize Netanyahu’s prosecution of the war in Gaza, saying that he has undermined the war aim of returning the hostages and undermining the achievements made on the battlefield at a very heavy price “by waging a continuous, unfocused war, with outdated goals.”

“Zini, I commanded you for most of your military service. I appreciate your operational capabilities and your courage,” Eisenkot writes. “I know that you have the wisdom to choose the right thing to do,” Eisenkot adds.

Eisenkot calls on Zini do what’s right “for the State of Israel, even at a personal cost” and suggests that he “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.”

According to Eisenkot, the appointment of the head of the Shin Bet should be done “in a manner that creates broad national consensus,” especially during this period of war, one of the “longest and most difficult in Israel’s history.”

Directly defying an order from the attorney general, Netanyahu announced on Thursday evening that he was appointing Zini as the next Shin Bet chief.

The announcement came a day after the High Court of Justice issued a ruling that Netanyahu’s firing of outgoing Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar was made “improperly” and “unlawfully,” and that he had a conflict of interest. Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara then informed Netanyahu on Wednesday that he was barred from appointing a new Shin Bet chief while she worked out the implications of the ruling.

Baharav-Miara responded to the appointment of Zini Thursday evening by lambasting Netanyahu for acting “in contravention of legal instructions.” The attorney general said that there is “heavy concern that he acted while having a conflict of interest, and that the appointments process is flawed.”