Police nix probe into father of Shin Bet chief appointee over comments about killing Arab MK

The head of the police’s investigations division blocked a probe into Rabbi Yosef Zini, the father of likely incoming Shin Bet chief David Zini, on suspicion of making threats against an Arab lawmaker, authorities say.

In recordings aired earlier this month by Channel 13 news, the rabbi was taped joking he would have killed Hadash-Ta’al MK Ahmad Tibi if elected to the Knesset and expressing his hope for the High Court to “explode.”

“What luck that I wasn’t elected to the Knesset, if I were elected to the Knesset I’d die in jail. If I heard MK Ahmad Tibi say ‘I am the sovereign’ and if I had a gun, I would kill the [supposed] sovereign,” he is heard saying, then laughing in the recording.

Police say that after a complaint was filed against Zini, 80, Deputy Commissioner Boaz Blatt instructed investigators to review the evidence against him and reached the decision not to launch a probe.

David Zini is set to be confirmed as the next head of the security agency despite concerns about the nomination process and claims that he is unfit for the role due to past statements made by him and his family members.

The younger Zini has described his own views as “messianic” and characterized Israel’s judicial system as “a dictatorship that rules the State of Israel.”

The announcement regarding Zini’s father comes after several media outlets reported that police had opened an investigation and summoned him for interrogation.

“The attempt by media outlets to falsely quote decisions that were never made in the name of the head of the investigations and intelligence division harms public trust, and most likely is based on untrustworthy sources,” police say.

Tibi tells The Times of Israel that his office informed the Knesset security officer of Zini’s statements, as is protocol in instances of incitement to murder or violence, and the officer then passed it to the police.