Otzma Yehudit requests probe into alleged Shin Bet interference in appointment of new agency chief

By Ariela Karmel

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27 October 2025, 6:58 pm

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Ariela Karmel is a political correspondent at The Times of Israel. She previously reported for Calcalist and Haaretz. She holds an MA in Middle Eastern and African History from Tel Aviv University and a BA in Political Science from the University of British Columbia.

David Zini at the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City on August 6, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Far-right party Otzma Yehudit is submitting a proposal to the Knesset to probe alleged Shin Bet interference in the appointment of the agency’s new chief Maj. Gen. (res.) David Zini.

The party insists the security agency crossed a red line when it reported that Zini met with a Shin Bet officer whom it was surveilling on suspicion of leaking classified information to the Grunis Committee, which vets senior government appointments, according to a Haaretz expose.

The committee nevertheless approved Zini’s appointment, largely ignoring the material, according to Hebrew media reports.

Otzma Yehudit claims that this was an attempt by the Shin Bet and Attorney General’s office to “thwart” his appointment. Zini’s selection was controversial due to his lack of experience and for following the ouster of former chief Ronen Bar amid a Shin Bet probe of the Prime Minister’s Office.

“When a security body monitors its own members and leaks findings to external parties to influence the appointment of the next head of the service, it is essentially trying to establish an alternative authority,” the party says in a statement.

Otzma Yehudit MK Limor Son Har-Melech, who submitted the proposal, says that “this is one of the most serious events in the history of the Shin Bet and amounts to an actual attempted coup.”

National Security Minister and Otzma Yehudit leader Itamar Ben Gvir says the surveillance affair is “an unprecedented attempt by the Shin Bet, supported by the Attorney General, to stage a rebellion against the government using methods meant for [investigating] terrorist organizations.”

According to an i24 news report, the Shin Bet surveilled the officer, known as A., for six months, in an operation legally approved by the Prime Minister and overseen by the Attorney General, according to Hebrew media reports.

The officer was suspected of leaking details regarding a Shin Bet investigation into the police, focused on concerns that extremist ideology had permeated the force under Ben Gvir, an acolyte of the late rabbi and Jewish extremist Meir Kahane, whose government role puts him in charge of the police.

A. is set to be charged for leaking details of the investigation to Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli and two journalists regarding the covert investigation, according to a Justice Ministry announcement Thursday.