(Tribune News Service) — Israel named former naval commander Eliyahu Sharvit as the new head of the country’s domestic-intelligence agency after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed his predecessor over a series of disputes.

Sharvit is set to lead the Shin Bet after 36 years serving in the Israeli military, a statement from Netanyahu’s office said on Monday. The appointment still requires full cabinet approval and needs to be signed off by a public integrity commission.

Netanyahu fired Ronen Bar, the previous holder of the post, earlier this month after disagreements over who should be held responsible for failing to prevent the October 2023 attack by Hamas that triggered the war in Gaza. The duo also clashed over hostage negotiations and a probe about links between the prime minister’s aides and Qatar.

Netanyahu was supposed to wait until an April 8 court hearing over Bar’s dismissal before appointing a new head of the Shin Bet, so the swift appointment of Sharvit could exacerbate domestic tensions. Thousands of Israelis have taken to the streets in recent weeks to protest against Bar’s firing, as well as challenges to the independence of the judiciary and the return to fighting Hamas after a ceasefire.

Israel’s attorney general, who’s also in the process of being ousted by Netanyahu’s cabinet, opposed Bar’s firing.

The turmoil triggered the biggest losses in Israeli markets since the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas, which is designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. and European Union.

Conflict of interests

Multiple petitions were submitted to the High Court following Bar’s dismissal, claiming that Netanyahu had a conflict of interest because of a Shin Bet inquiry into several of his close aides.

Benny Gantz, a leader of the opposition, praised Sharvit’s experience but said on X that it’s clear “Netanyahu has decided to continue his campaign against the judiciary and lead the State of Israel toward a dangerous constitutional crisis.”

Some legal experts, however, say that line hasn’t been crossed given Sharvit’s appointment hasn’t been confirmed. And the former military man isn’t likely to be seen as the ultra-loyalist replacement for Bar that some feared, according to Amichai Cohen, a senior fellow at Israel’s Democracy Institute, whose expertise is constitutional law and security.

“By announcing the identity of someone who enjoys wide consensus, the concern over the prime minister appointing a mere loyalist has dissipated,” he said.

Israeli Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu, from the far right of Netanyahu’s ruling coalition, opposed the appointment, saying Sharvit, like Bar, shares the views of anti-government protestors and “won’t solve the problem.”

Under Bar, the Shin Bet started an investigation into allegations that aides to Netanyahu were working with Qatar to bolster the Gulf state’s image, possibly risking state secrets. Netanyahu’s office has denied the accusations.

The Israeli police, who are jointly handling the investigation with the Shin Bet, said Monday it had made two arrests, the first since the probe officially started several weeks ago.

Oct. 7 attack

Netanyahu’s appointment of a new Shin Bet chief may help him distance himself from blame for the Oct. 7 attack, said Cohen.

“Ronen Bar was very motivated to place some of the responsibility for the Oct. 7 attacks on the political echelon, and this was evident in the recently published Shin Bet inquiries,” he said. “It’s possible that a new chief, who was not in any official role during the attack, will place greater emphasis moving the organization forward and less on the question of past responsibility.”

Netanyahu has refuted calls to establish a state commission of inquiry into Oct. 7 and has largely refrained from claiming personal responsibility. About 1,200 people were killed and 250 abducted in the attack, while more than 50,000 Palestinians have been killed in the subsequent conflict, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza.

While serving as Israel’s naval commander, Sharvit “led the construction of the maritime defense force in the economic waters and managed complex operational systems against Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran,” the statement from Netanyahu’s office said.

Iran sponsors Hamas as well as Hezbollah, a Lebanon-based militant group, which is also designated a terrorist organization by the U.S.

If confirmed, Sharvit will be the first Shin Bet chief in three decades who did not come from within the service. The last time the intelligence service had an outsider as head was in 1996, after the Shin Bet failed to prevent the assassination of the Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.

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