From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, April 1, 2025
Former IDF Southern Command chief Sami Turgeman said to be in running to lead Shin Bet
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleLazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter
Maj. Gen. (res.) Sami Turgeman, former head of the IDF’s Southern Command, is in the running to become the next Shin Bet chief, according to multiple Hebrew media reports.
An official in the Prime Minister’s Office denies the reports, telling The Times of Israel that “Turgeman is not a candidate for the head of the Shin Bet.”
Turgeman was in charge of the Southern Command during the 2014 Operation Protective Edge against Hamas in Gaza while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in office.
Current IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir was Netanyahu’s military secretary at the time and replaced Turgeman in 2015.
Turgeman is CEO of Noga, an independent company that manages Israel’s electric system.
Last month, Zamir appointed Turgeman to head an external panel of former senior officers to evaluate the military’s probes into Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught and oversee the implementation of the findings.
Earlier today, Netanyahu announced that he was backtracking on his decision to appoint Vice Adm. (res.) Eli Sharvit as the next head of the Shin Bet following a whirlwind day of criticism of the nomination both in Israel and abroad.
Netanyahu is looking to replace Ronen 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.
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