Shin Bet chief’s brother, 4 others released to house arrest in Gaza smuggling case

By Charlie Summers

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16 March 2026, 11:04 am

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Bezalel Zini. (Facebook, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

Smuggling suspect Bezalel Zini, the brother of Shin Bet chief David Zini, is released to house arrest alongside four others following a decision by the Supreme Court rejecting the prosecution’s appeal to extend their remand.

The State Attorney’s Office filed an appeal in the Supreme Court last week against the Beersheba District Court’s decision to release Zini and the other suspects implicated in a Gaza smuggling ring. The suspects are alleged to be responsible for trafficking cigarettes and other prohibited goods into the enclave.

In order to keep a suspect in custody prior to conviction, a judge must find that there is a high probability that the individual poses a danger to others or is liable to obstruct legal proceedings if released.

Presiding Supreme Court judge Gila Canfy-Steinitz casts doubt in her ruling on the notion that Zini and the other suspects pose a public safety risk, claiming there are flaws in prosecutors’ attempts to attribute the offense of assisting the enemy during wartime to the defendants, according to a Ynet report.

She reportedly notes that prosecutors have not accused the defendants of direct contact with Hamas or provided evidence that the smuggled goods or their monetary value ever reached the Gaza-based terror group.

Zini, an IDF reservist who headed logistics for forces doing demolition work in Gaza, is suspected of abusing his access to the enclave to smuggle 14 crates of cigarettes from Israel into Gaza on three occasions, earning a total of NIS 365,000 ($117,405). He was indicted in February alongside two others, including a fellow reservist, on charges of assisting the enemy during wartime, fraud and bribery.

A day prior to Zini’s indictment, 12 others, allegedly part of the same larger smuggling network, were charged after allegedly trafficking goods into Gaza on 15 separate occasions.

With the Supreme Court’s ruling today, all suspects implicated in the smuggling ring are set to remain in house arrest until a verdict is issued in the case.