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Saturday, July 18, 2026
Liberman predicts effort by Netanyahu camp to use Shin Bet against election rivals, media outlets
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Avigdor Liberman, head of the right-wing opposition party Yisrael Beytenu, claims that the coalition led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will attempt to use the Shin Bet domestic security agency against political rivals in October’s elections and against media outlets that do not back Netanyahu.
Interviewed on Channel 12, Liberman says the appointment and actions of new Shin Bet chief David Zini are “very worrying” — more so, he says, than has hitherto been recognized.
Liberman, a former foreign and defense minister under Netanyahu, says it is “very likely” that “there will be an effort to use the Shin Bet in these elections against political rivals, and against unfriendly media outlets.”
Asked to elaborate, he says, “like a thought police, a political police.”
Zini, appointed to head the powerful agency last September amid controversy, said earlier this month that he agreed to take on the role because of his loyalty to the political leadership — a stance that prompted Netanyahu’s main rival in the October 17 elections, Gadi Eisenkot, to declare that such a stance merited dismissal.
“I felt that I was qualified, maybe even more than others, in my ability to be loyal to the elected leadership, no matter the opinion,” Zini said.
Responded Eisenkot: “If there’s a head of a security agency who feels that he owes personal loyalty, and acts accordingly, he should hand in his keys and leave.” If he wins the election, Eisenkot added, “Anyone whose loyalty is not to the state, and whose actions were not in accordance with the law, will be required to hand in their keys and go home. And if they don’t, we’ll send them home.”
Zini in recent days has reportedly sought to investigate journalists at Channel 12 over a leak regarding the timing of this year’s opening strikes in the US-Israel war with Iran, having reportedly been pressured to do so by Jacob Bardugo, a pro-Netanyahu commentator, and has approved a request to grant a lifetime security detail to Sara Netanyahu and extend security protection for the couple’s two sons for an additional five years.
The Times of Israel Community.