Former Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) chiefs Nadav Argaman, Carmi Gilon and Ami Ayalon, along with 186 other former Shin Bet officials, petitioned the High Court of Justice on Sunday to cancel the fresh appointment of David Zini as head of the internal security agency.
Zini entered the position on Sunday. The petition comes after a rejection over the weekend by Supreme Court Justice Khaled Kabub of four petitions calling on the court to issue an interim order against the appointment, a temporary court ruling issued to preserve the status quo until a final decision is made.
Kabub noted in his decision that a hearing on the petitions will be scheduled by the end of November, and that initial responses to it should be submitted within one week after the hearing takes place.
In the petition, the security officials argued that appointing a candidate who “lacks the professional experience and proper skills to lead the agency is a threat to the State.” They added that these reasons suggest that Zini is not adequately equipped to fill the role.
Zini's term will last for 5 years
The term of each head of the Shin Bet lasts five years. The former chief, Ronen Bar, filled the position from October 2021, until he resigned this past June.
His resignation came after intense turmoil in the realms of jurisprudence and public discourse. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that the trust between the two - which is critical to a productive working relationship - was shattered beyond repair by the agency's intelligence failures on October 7. Bar argued that the push to fire him began in earnest in November 2024, when the intelligence agency began investigating, along with Israel Police, Qatari influences over figures close to Netanyahu and the Prime Minister's Office, dubbed “Qatargate.”
Attorney-General Gali Miara flagged legal challenges related to the appointment, but did not recommend blocking it, and she will prepare a conflict-of-interest arrangement to prevent Zini from handling cases connected to the “Qatargate” investigations
While this is not the first petition against Zini's appointment - several have been filed by NGOs and forums - it is the first by former chiefs of the intelligence agency.