Opinion: Amidst war with Iran, Netanyahu tries to subjugate Israel Security Agency
June 20, 2025 2 Comments
THE GOVERNMENT OF ISRAEL recently appointed a new acting chief at the Israel Security Agency (ISA, also known as Shabak or Shin Bet). Identified only by their first initial, “S.”, this individual is one of the deputies of the outgoing ISA chief, Ronen Bar, and has reportedly served in the ISA for nearly 30 years. For the first time in ISA’s history, the organization is now being led by someone without a permanent appointment, marking a significant departure from usual practice.
This temporary appointment arises from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s insistence on nominating Major General (ret.) David Zini for the position. However, Zini’s nomination has been met with legal challenges. The Supreme Court of Israel has ruled that Netanyahu cannot appoint the chief of the ISA, due to a conflict of interest. This is because the ISA is currently conducting a comprehensive investigation into the connections of Netanyahu’s close advisors with Qatar—a case popularly referred to as Qatargate.
Yet, even amidst Israel’s war with Iran, Netanyahu finds time to advocate for Zini’s appointment as ISA chief, arguing that the ongoing war creates an urgent need for a permanent ISA chief. The matter is once again pending a Supreme Court decision. Nevertheless, it seems that, given the unique circumstances that Israel is currently facing, Zini is likely to be appointed head of the ISA.
It is important to note that Zini lacks experience in intelligence operations. Following the failure of the ISA to provide a warning before the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, the ISA chief has been expected to have extensive experience in intelligence operations, and to be well-versed in Arab affairs, which are central to ISA’s operations.
The issues surrounding the appointment of Major General Zini are complex. There is concern about the fact that Zini is being nominated personally by the prime minister, who is also requesting that the ISA head relinquish their autonomy and comply with the Prime Minister’s directives. Thus, the ISA could be used as a tool by the Netanyahu administration to advance the prime minister’s own political agenda.
What are the potential immediate risks if Zini is appointed to the role of ISA chief?
- Zini will likely respond to Netanyahu’s request and impose secret surveillance on political activists who have long opposed the prime minister. Netanyahu demanded that the former ISA head, Ronen Bar, take similar action. However, Bar refused, asserting that political protest in Israel was legitimate and that political motives, rather than state interests, drove the prime minister’s request.
- The Qatargate investigation threatens Netanyahu’s continued tenure as prime minister. It can therefore be expected that Zini will attempt to intervene in the investigations against the prime minister in the Qatargate affair, in order to appease the prime minister who appointed him to his senior position.
- There is a risk that, once Zini is appointed head of the ISA, he may deprioritize the ISA’s efforts against instances of Jewish terrorism in the West Bank (referred as Judea and Samaria in Israel), which have increased dramatically since the new Netanyahu administration took office. This concern stems from Zini’s close ties with the extreme right in Israel.
- It is likely that, if Zini is appointed head of the ISA, he will bring into the organization an array of senior officials who may not necessarily be experts in the field of intelligence, thereby strengthening his personal influence over it. Such a situation has never occurred in the history of the ISA. If it does happen, there is a risk that a challenging atmosphere could develop within the organization, undermining its competence.
The task of overseeing the ISA’s recovery after the organization’s severe failure on October 7, requires the appointment of a top-tier professional to lead the organization. For this reason the acting head should receive a permanent appointment. Major General Zini, who lacks the necessary qualifications, should not be considered for the position. It is unacceptable for the ISA to be led by a personal appointee of the prime minister, whose judgment is questionable. In the interests of the future of the ISA, it is far preferable to make the nomination of S. permanent.
► Author: Dr. Avner Barnea* | Date: 20 June 2025 | Permalink
* Dr. Avner Barnea is a research fellow at the National Security Studies Center of the University of Haifa in Israel. He served as a senior officer in the Israel Security Agency (ISA). He is the author of We Never Expected That: A Comparative Study of Failures in National and Business Intelligence (Lexington Books, 2021).
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A major reason to appoint someone with long experience in the ISA is the risk of terrorism from Iran or its proxies Hamas, Hezbollah or Houthis. Iran, having been unable to retaliate with missiles and drones as much as Iran hoped against Israel, is surely looking at the asymmetric tactic of terrorism.
I don’t know whether the ISA or Mossad deals with protecting Israeli and Jewish diaspora targets outside of Israel? If it is the ISA then that is another task for a leader with long experience in the ISA.
Goyim love to promote their Palestine revisionist history.
johncoyote·john-coyote.com·
Dead ends… A You Tube song sung by a beautiful Woman.
Dead ends A Poem by Coyote Poetry Time for all of us to think and do the right things. Before it is too late for us and nature. Please don’t allow Israel/ USA to erase a people ( Palestine.). Murder of cities and people. The greatest sin. Men can do. Dead ends.. Brothers told no-one […]
Palestine ceased to exist as a UN protectorate territory when Israel won its National Independence by the Nakba defeat of 5 Arab Armies by the IDF, all the while that Jewish European Shoah refugees entered settlements within the borders of the newly declared state of Israel. Arrogant Arabs invaded the newly declared Jewish state of Israel, the day after a 2/3rds UNGA majority recognized Jews equal rights to achieve self-determination in the Middle East. Based upon their false revisionist history foretold a Mohammedan prophesy that they would easily throw the Jews into the Sea and complete the Nazi Holocaust.
This pie in the sky song of revisionist history ignores that all Arab countries Universally rejected UN 181. Do you even know what that Resolution was about? Arab rejected the Balfour Declaration by which the League of Nations carved up the defunct and defeated Ottoman Greater Syrian empire and awarded mandates to France in Syria and Lebanon and to Britain in present day Israel, Jordan, Iraq and Kuwait. The latter known as the “Palestine Mandate”. Palestine not an Arab word, Arabs cannot even pronounce the letter P in their language!
Arabs reject Jewish self determination in the Middle East. Just that simple. No Arab ever would embrace the name Palestinian during the entire period of the British Mandate. Only in 1964 did the Egyptian born Yasser Arafat embrace the name Palestine with the establishment of his PLO terrorist organization. The Palestine Charter of Arafat’s PLO did not condemn the Jordanian rule over Samaria which it rebranded as “West Bank”. Nor did it denounce the Egyptian rule over Gaza! It openly condemned ’48 Israel.
You want to make the Palestinian issue into a religious belief system, that’s your choice. But this revisionist history compares to the Xtian and Muslim basic theologies of Monotheism. Which God do they worship? Such classic pie in the sky fairy tales of some Universal God… what a load of shit. On par with the lies which Goyim parents spew out to their young children about Santa Claus.
In similar vein Arab propaganda promotes the travesty of Israeli settlements in Samaria and Gaza today! America formed its original 13 colonies to the vast land from Sea to Shining Sea, built through settlements…American settlements perhaps the greatest success story in the last 250 years!