Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu picked former navy commander Eli Sharvit to head the domestic security agency, his office said Monday, despite the supreme court freezing the incumbent’s dismissal.
It remains unclear when and how Sharvit could officially take charge as the court’s ruling on the removal of the current Shin Bet chief, Ronen Bar, is still pending.
Netanyahu moved to sack Bar on 21 March, after citing an “ongoing lack of trust” in him.
But after petitions filed by Israel’s opposition and a non-governmental organisation, the supreme court suspended the dismissal of Bar, whose relationship with the government became strained after he blamed the executive for the security fiasco of Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack on Israel.
Legal experts and an Israeli opposition leader warned that if the top court overturns Bar’s dismissal, the country could face a constitutional crisis.
“After conducting in-depth interviews with seven worthy candidates, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided to appoint former Israel navy commander, Vice-Admiral Eli Sharvit as the next director of the ISA (Shin Bet),” his office said in a statement.
Netanyahu’s office said Sharvit had served in the military for 36 years, including five as navy commander.
“In that position, he led the force building of the maritime defence of the territorial waters and conducted complex operations against Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran,” the statement said.
‘Playing with fire’
In its initial ruling, the supreme court said the freeze on Bar’s dismissal would remain in place until the appeals are presented before 8 April.
“Things are proceeding in parallel as the supreme court allowed him (Netanyahu) to interview candidates for the post while legal proceedings are still on in the court,” a legal expert on the issue told AFP on condition of anonymity, for fear they would appear to criticise the government.
“The question of how legal is the dismissal (of Bar) is still pending in the supreme court and it could still be cancelled by the court.”
The expert said Netanyahu, by choosing the next Shin Bet chief, was “establishing facts on the ground”.
“It might be an attempt to influence the court.”
Opposition leader and former defence minister Benny Gantz praised Sharvit but cautioned that the country could be on the brink of a crisis by pitting the judiciary against the executive.
“What is clear is that 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,” Gantz said in a statement.
Gantz emphasised that “the appointment of the head of the Shin Bet must take place only after the supreme court’s ruling.”
Israel’s main opposition leader, Yair Lapid, lashed out against the way the government has picked Sharvit.
“It’s about the hasty, fearful, and irresponsible process by which the selection for the next head of Shin Bet was conducted,” Lapid said on X.
Ronit Levine-Schnur, a constitutional law expert at Tel Aviv University, said while Netanyahu and his government had “not violated” any laws so far, their timing and overall approach to the judiciary were contentious.
“We need to respect the law, that’s the bottom line… they are playing with fire,” she told AFP.
Protests, criticism
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara had said immediately after the 21 March ruling that Netanyahu was “prohibited” from appointing a new Shin Bet chief.
Baharav-Miara even said she suspects Netanyahu of having a conflict of interest.
But the prime minister insisted it was up to his government to decide who heads the domestic security agency.
Bar’s relationship with the Netanyahu government soured after he blamed the executive for Hamas’s October 2023 attack, and following a Shin Bet probe into alleged covert payments to a Netanyahu aide from Qatar.
“Major General Sharvit should announce today that he accepts the position – but will not take office until the ‘Qatargate’ investigation is completed,” said Lapid.
Baharav-Miara was also previously critical of the government’s plans to overhaul the judiciary, which she said threatened to make Israel a “democracy in name but not in spirit”.
The proposed changes sparked months of mass protests across Israel, deeply dividing society, but the government suspended them following the start of it’s war on Gaza that followed Hamas’s attack.
They have since been revived, however.
Thousands of Israelis protested last week to condemn Bar’s dismissal, and to call for the return of the captives being held in Gaza.
They also protested against the Israeli parliament’s decision to pass a law expanding elected officials’ power to appoint judges pushed by Netanyahu’s government, one of the most right-wing in the history of Israel.
