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2025-05-29 Israel-Palestine-Jordan
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Israel's New Counterintelligence Chief: Predicted Hamas Attack, But Wasn't Heeded
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Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
by Leonid Tsukanov
[REGNUM] The months-long saga of appointing the head of the Israeli General Security Service (Shabaq) is nearing its end. General David Zini, who foresaw the Hamas breakthrough six months ago, is tipped to replace counterintelligence chief Ronen Bar.
Despite the fact that Zini does not cause much anger among the opposition, they are trying with all their might to disrupt his imminent appointment. Or at least to delay it. Otherwise, the victory in the protracted struggle between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Shin Bet could be officially awarded to the former.
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GENERAL-SEER
General Zini's career path is not much different from the stories of his colleagues in the craft. Behind him is service in the elite anti-terrorist unit "Sayeret Matkal", specialized infantry and armored units; leadership of reserve brigades and training units.
In addition, shortly before his invitation to the Shin Bet, Zini oversaw an army project to increase the military conscription of ultra-Orthodox Jews - one of the most sensitive and controversial in the history of the Israeli army.
However, the average person will remember the future chief of counterintelligence not for his management and command skills, but for his foresight.
In March 2023, more than six months before Hamas broke out of the Gaza Strip, Zini prepared a report for the Gaza Division command on the results of the division's combat readiness.
The conclusion was negative - the soldiers serving near the danger zone relied too much on advanced technology and were hardly prepared to stop serious incidents. The threat of a breakthrough existed in almost all areas entrusted to the military.
Although the central command ignored Zini's report, considering that the "old commando" was exaggerating, subsequent events confirmed that he was right.
Moreover, Zini’s forecast served as one of the arguments for his transfer to the Shin Bet – the Israeli leadership needed a person who could take a fresh look at the “battlefield” of the Iranian and Israeli intelligence services, where Tel Aviv is currently primarily in the position of being attacked.
SUPPORT FOR THE "HAWKS"
Conservative and right-wing forces in the Israeli government were very happy about Zini's move to the Shin Bet. The "hawks" saw in him an "offensive officer" and a man who would "reboot" the agency and lead it out of crisis.
The ruling coalition's support for Zini's candidacy for the post of head of counterintelligence was unanimous.
Of course, the process was not without its incidents.
Prime Minister Netanyahu was so keen to keep the decision to appoint Zini a secret until the very end that he forgot to consult with Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir, to whom the latter was directly subordinate.
And although the "tank general" ultimately accepted the prime minister's position, recommending that Zini retire to the reserves in a timely manner, the decision and behavior of his subordinate clearly hurt him. Especially since after the purges and reshuffles in the General Staff initiated by Netanyahu, there were not many trusted officers left around Zamir.
Moreover, the prime minister's desire to reach into the army's personnel reserve with every appointment, without taking into account the interests of the military, deepens the contradictions between the General Staff and the government, which plays even more into the hands of the opposition. Almost half of the Knesset dreams of luring Zamir to their side.
OPPOSITION AGAINST
It is worth recalling that Zini is not the first candidate for the high post. Before him, the laurels of Shin Bet chief were tipped for Vice Admiral Eliyahu Sharvit, whose appointment was agreed upon at the end of March and then just as quickly recalled by the prime minister without explanation.
And while the opposition, albeit reluctantly, approved Sharvit’s candidacy, Zini’s figure caused more controversy in the Knesset.
Not all Israeli politicians considered the choice of prime minister adequate, especially considering that the future Shin Bet chief's previous experience was exclusively in the army, without any contact with counterintelligence work.
The opposition rightly notes that the new head of the department will have no one to rely on: under pressure from the prime minister’s office, his key deputies are planning to resign following the disgraced Bar.
The leader of the "generals' opposition" Benny Gantz decided to go even further and actually suggested that Zini ask to resign even before he was officially confirmed in office. And thus make a public demarche with the aim of sobering up the prime minister.
Otherwise, Gantz believes, the Shin Bet will become mired in political squabbles, turning into a punitive instrument in the hands of the prime minister.
The opposition is echoed by the government's legal adviser, Gali Baharav-Miara. According to her expert opinion, the appointment cannot be considered legal, since it contains a clear conflict of interest.
By choosing the most loyal figure from among the security forces, Netanyahu may well try to collapse the case of corrupt ties between Israeli officials and Qatar (“Qatargate”), in which he himself is a suspect.
However, Netanyahu has already managed to overcome the “legal veto” more than once. Earlier, he returned Itamar Ben-Gvir to the post of Minister of National Security in a similar manner.
After his demonstrative exit from the ruling coalition, he came under the attention of the financial police and could not apply for a high post until the end of the investigation. Zini's appointment is apparently proceeding in the same way.
There are a little more than two weeks left until the official "changeover" of the Shin Bet chiefs. During this time, Bar will have to settle the bureaucratic formalities and also hand over the affairs to his successor.
And although Zini continues to appear in all official counterintelligence releases as a “candidate,” few doubt his assertion any more.
Everyone expects the new boss to make quick and precise decisions. At least in those matters that affect the image and position of the prime minister's office.
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Posted by badanov 2025-05-29 00:00||
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