While new coalition stutters, Shin Bet begins protecting PM-designate Bennett

3 June 2021, 10:22 am

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Head of the Yamina party Naftali Bennett gives a press conference at the Knesset, on May 30, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The Shin Bet’s unit that protects the top officials of the state, Unit 730, has placed a security detail around Naftali Bennett, the coalition-to-be’s new prime minister, the security service says in a statement.

Nothing is final yet. The new government must still be voted into office by the Knesset, and then must be officially sworn in.

Meanwhile, the new coalition is struggling to keep its right-wing flank, especially MK Nir Orbach from Bennett’s Yamina party, in line.

But sources familiar with the decision say the Shin Bet decided to begin protecting Bennett at this early stage over fears that anger at him from some parts of the political right could lead to attempts on his life.