Netanyahu seen likely to reverse pick for new Shin Bet head after allies protest choice
Final decision yet to be made amid swirling reports around Eli Sharvit’s anti-government activism; US Rep. Lindsey Graham denounces choice, cites Sharvit op-ed critical of Trump
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared set to retract his pick of former Navy chief Eli Sharvit as the next head of the Shin Bet security service Monday afternoon, hours after the surprise announcement drew jeers from the premier’s allies and accusations of political chicanery from his foes.
Netanyahu announced Sharvit Monday morning as his choice to replace Ronen Bar at the head of the agency, in a move that apparently caught the country’s top defense official off guard and set off a flurry of raised eyebrows, given the reserves vice admiral’s reported participation in anti-government protests and ongoing questions surrounding Bar’s dismissal during a criminal probe into associates of the prime minister.
A source with knowledge of Netanyahu’s thinking told The Times of Israel Monday afternoon that the prime minister was likely to rescind Sharvit’s nomination, but did not cite a reason.
Netanyahu had yet to make a final decision on the matter, the source added. The Prime Minister’s Office declined to comment.
Reports in Hebrew-language media earlier on Monday indicated that Netanyahu was facing pressure from political allies to scratch Sharvit’s nomination, due to his apparent participation in massive protests that erupted in 2023, against the government’s plans to overhaul the judiciary.
According to a report by Ynet in March 2023, Sharvit joined a protest on Tel Aviv’s Kaplan Street, alongside other former military officers. He did not issue a call to refuse to show up for duty, as some other reservists did, but only expressed concern over the planned legislation, according to the report.
עדיף להיות קפלניסט מחורבניסט
צילום: קוקו
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Sharvit also spoke publicly in favor of a 2022 territorial water agreement with Lebanon, which Netanyahu — then the opposition leader — had opposed, and earlier this year, Sharvit penned an opinion piece criticizing US President Donald Trump for his climate policies.
Sharvit is “not suitable to head the Shin Bet,” tweeted Likud lawmaker Tally Gotliv, who predicted that the appointment would be voided.
“If he protests, he will not be the head of the Shin Bet. Let him continue to protest,” Likud MK Nissim Vaturi told the Knesset Channel.
An unsourced report carried by Channel 12 news claimed that Netanyahu had chosen Sharvit, despite being aware of his activism, thinking he was the best person for the job, but was pressured by his wife Sara to walk the choice back.
The channel claimed that Netanyahu’s associates were citing the anti-Trump op-ed as a reason for the expected move, however.
There was no comment from the American administration on the pick of Sharvit, but Republican South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham issued a statement excoriating the nomination as “beyond problematic.”
“The statements made by Eli Sharvit about President Trump and his polices will create unnecessary stress at a critical time,” Graham wrote on X. “My advice to my Israeli friends is change course and do better vetting.”
In the op-ed, Sharvit accused Trump of leading the world “into the abyss,” due to his support for fossil fuels.
“Trump’s shortsightedness sends a shocking message to the world of disregard for scientific reality, the well-being of humanity, and responsibility to future generations,” he wrote.
A Channel 12 report Monday night suggested that, in fact, it was Netanyahu’s aides who reached out to Graham’s office, urging him to tweet against Sharvit’s appointment, to bolster the claim that it was Trump administration pressure that led to the decision, rather than anger over his participation in the protests.
Katz in the dark
The Prime Minister’s Office announced Sharvit as Netanyahu’s pick in a 7 a.m. statement, saying seven candidates had been interviewed and noting that the former navy chief had led the design of naval capabilities to defend Israel’s territorial waters, and that he oversaw complex operations against Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran.
The choice came as a surprise — Sharvit’s name was not among the four candidates previously announced. Among those who only learned that Netanyahu chose Sharvit with the 7 a.m. announcement from the PMO was Defense Minister Israel Katz, The Times of Israel has learned.
Netanyahu, said his office, “is convinced that Sharvit is the right person to lead the Shin Bet on a path that will continue the organization’s glorious tradition.”
Some have questioned Sharvit’s nomination over his apparent lack of familiarity with the types of domestic security challenges normally tackled by the Shin Bet, including not knowing Arabic or being involved in Palestinian affairs, though this would not be unprecedented for a head of the agency.
Opposition Yisrael Beytenu party chair Avigdor Liberman told the Kan public broadcaster that while Sharvit was an “excellent” commander, his appointment “raises many questions.”
“I know Sharvit, he was an excellent Navy commander,” said Liberman, a former defense minister who held the role when Sharvit commanded the Navy. “[However,] he has no intelligence background, he has no training in that, no relevant knowledge, so the considerations that led to his appointment raise many questions.”
Unless rescinded, Sharvit’s nomination will need to be vetted by a state committee before going to the cabinet for a vote.
Netanyahu is looking to replace Bar, who was formally fired by the cabinet earlier this month, but who remains in his post thanks to a temporary injunction imposed on his dismissal by the High Court of Justice, which is hearing petitions against the firing. Though the court froze Bar’s firing, it allowed Netanyahu to interview candidates to replace him.
Netanyahu said he had lost faith in the Shin Bet chief following the Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023, when thousands of terrorists stormed southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages, sparking the war in Gaza.
Critics of the prime minister have accused him of seeking to fire Bar due to an ongoing Shin Bet probe of alleged ties between Netanyahu’s top aides and Qatar, which backs Hamas. They note that Netanyahu cooperated closely with Bar for over a year after the onslaught, and that Bar had been part of Israel’s negotiations team for a ceasefire and hostage deal.
The investigation, known as Qatargate, appeared to intensify Monday, with the arrest of two aides at the center of the alleged affair and Netanyahu himself being summoned by police to testify, though not as a suspect.
Others questioned the appropriateness of nominating a replacement before an April 8 hearing on Bar’s dismissal.
“The prime minister decided this morning to continue his campaign against the judicial system and lead the State of Israel toward a dangerous constitutional crisis. The appointment of a head of the Shin Bet must be made only after a High Court decision,” National Unity party leader Benny Gantz said.
Sharvit commanded the Navy from 2016 until 2021, including during the May 2021 conflict with Hamas. Since being released from the military, he has served in several top roles in civilian companies, including leading renewable energy firm Elgry Eco Energy.
Earlier in March, Sharvit was appointed by IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir to be a member of a panel of former officers who are to examine and evaluate the military’s October 7 investigations.
Bar has vowed to stay on as Shin Bet chief until the return of all hostages from Gaza and the formation of a state commission of inquiry into the Hamas onslaught, which the government staunchly opposes.
The Times of Israel Community.