Report: PM to name new Shin Bet chief in coming days, before High Court hears petitions against Bar’s dismissal

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu makes a statement on his intention to fire Shin Bet head Ronen Bar (Screenshot/Prime Minister’s Office Spokesman)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu makes a statement on his intention to fire Shin Bet head Ronen Bar (Screenshot/Prime Minister’s Office Spokesman)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to announce in the coming days his candidate to replace Ronen Bar as the head of the Shin Bet security agency, despite a temporary injunction imposed on Bar’s dismissal by the High Court of Justice.

Netanyahu interviewed four contenders to replace Bar last week, after the High Court scrapped a prohibition on the premier talking to candidates for the agency’s leadership, even as it extended a freeze on his ouster, which will remain in place at least until it hears petitions against the move.

According to Hebrew media reports, Netanyahu does not intend to wait until the court hears petitions on April 8 to announce Bar’s successor, and will instead do so in the coming days.

Contenders for the role include two former deputy Shin Bet heads — one identified only as “Mem,” and the other as Yair (Rolly) Sagi — as well as former top Shin Bet official Shalom Ben Hanan, and former division head in the Mossad, Eyal Tsir Cohen.

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