Gantz slams Netanyahu for pushing ahead with effort to oust Shin Bet chief

Praising former Navy commander Vice Adm. (res.) Eli Sharvit as “an experienced, courageous commander with a calibrated value compass” who is fully capable of leading the Shin Bet, National Unity chairman Benny Gantz laments his nomination to head the security agency as a move “aimed at tarnishing the legal system and security organizations.”

“The more the investigation into ‘Qatargate’ progresses, the greater [Prime Minister Benjamn] Netanyahu’s determination in the fight against the systems that believe in the investigation increases,” he states, speaking at a meeting of his faction in the Knesset.

Gantz insists that the prime minister “should have waited for the High Court hearing, but instead he is behaving irresponsibly and perhaps unfairly with all the candidates and, God forbid, is approaching a constitutional crisis.”

Netanyahu is believed to be reconsidering Sharvit’s appointment

Current Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar has not been formally relieved from his post, with a temporary injunction imposed on his dismissal by the High Court of Justice. While the court froze Bar’s firing, it allowed Netanyahu to interview candidates to replace him.

“This is a serious and unforgivable thing. The order of things must be clear: first the High Court, then a decision on an appointment,” he states.

“This whole process is transparent, dangerous and hypocritical. If Netanyahu claims that the Shin Bet underwent a shakeup on October 7 and that the head of the organization should be replaced, then it is worth reminding him that the entire country was shaken and is still shaking, that trust is shattered, and if it is possible to replace heads of security organizations, then it is time to return the mandate to the public and go to elections.”

Turning to the war in Gaza, Gantz says that it has been months since the agreement on the hostage deal and “Hamas is organizing and rehabilitating itself, and for over a month, no hostages have returned. Hamas is re-recruiting fighters – and our loved ones are deep in the tunnels.”

Calling on Netanyahu to “a comprehensive deal which will bring everyone home,” Gantz says that the current situation is “good for Hamas – and bad for the hostages.” What is clear, he insists, is that “we will continue to fight Hamas until its military capabilities are destroyed, and we will not allow it to control the Gaza Strip. We have been fighting it for over a year and a half, and we will continue to fight for years to come. The hostages do not have the time.”

When National Unity joined the coalition it had been agreed that no legislation unrelated to the war would be advanced and “since we left the government, it seems that the coalition has decided to take the outburst of solidarity among the people and turn it into an outburst of anti-democratic and disconnected legislation – in order to survive in power,” he continues.

“Instead of establishing a state commission of inquiry, they are enacting a law that will grant immunity to Knesset members” and are continuing with the judicial “coup,” he argues.