Netanyahu interviewing Shin Bet chief candidates amid legal freeze on Bar’s ouster

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday began interviewing candidates to replace Shin Bet head Ronen Bar, who was formally fired last week but remains in his post.

Following the government’s controversial vote to dismiss Bar, the High Court extended a freeze on the spy chief’s ouster on Tuesday but scrapped a prohibition on the premier talking to candidates for the agency’s leadership.

The Prime Minister’s Office was quick to initiate the search for replacements and summoned four candidates for the position, the PMO told The Times of Israel.

Netanyahu will interview two former deputy Shin Bet heads, one identified as “Mem,” and Yair (Rolly) Sagi, as well as Shalom Ben Hanan, a former top Shin Bet official.

The fourth candidate, Eyal Tsir Cohen, will meet with Netanyahu after his return from an overseas trip.

“Mem” is the most recent former deputy chief of the internal security agency.

Netanyahu previously appointed “Mem” as a member of Israel’s hostage negotiation team after Bar was removed ahead of his dismissal. He has also served in several other senior roles in the agency and worked as a field coordinator, involved in recruiting agents and other sources.

Sagi, previously identified by the Hebrew initial “Resh,” formerly served as deputy Shin Bet head and saw Bar selected as chief of the agency ahead of him.

Former senior Shin Bet official Shalom Ben Hanan served for some 27 years in various roles within the organization, including as head of the Israel and Foreign Affairs Division and the training directorate. Ben Hanan is currently a senior researcher at Reichman University’s Institute for Counter Terrorism.

Eyal Tsir Cohen, a former division head in the Mossad and currently a researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies, is another leading candidate.

Cohen served in several security roles within Israel, including the Shin Bet, though the most senior positions he held during his career were outside the agency, according to Channel 12.

He speaks six languages and was a member of Israel’s hostage negotiations team, Channel 12 reported.

A rocky legal road

Netanyahu’s office said it would begin the interview process after the High Court extended a temporary order on the spy chief’s ouster on Tuesday but rejected a request to prohibit starting the search for replacements.

The ruling by Justice Gila Canfy-Steinitz rejected Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara’s request that the court prevent the government from interviewing potential Shin Bet heads or appointing an interim one. The statement by Netanyahu’s office did not indicate if the premier would appoint an interim Shin Bet chief.

The ruling lets Netanyahu choose a candidate to lead the Shin Bet, but not to replace Bar.

Netanyahu said he had lost faith in the Shin Bet chief following the Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023, when thousands of terrorists stormed southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages, sparking the war in Gaza.

Baharav-Miara warned that the ouster faced legal difficulties, in part due to an ongoing Shin Bet probe of alleged ties between Netanyahu’s top aides and Qatar, which backs Hamas.

On Friday, Canfy-Steinitz issued a temporary injunction against Bar’s ouster. Following the injunction, Baharav-Miara — whom the government is also seeking to remove from her post — told Netanyahu he was legally prohibited from appointing a new head of the Shin Bet, or even conducting interviews for the job, including an interim head.

Responding to the injunction on Monday, the government said it could not be forced to work with a Shin Bet chief it does not trust. The government also rejected Baharav-Miara’s claim that it had a conflict of interest, arguing that the decision to fire Bar was made before the Qatar probe began.

The government added in a submission to the court on Tuesday that national security needed to start the search for Bar’s successor. It said the search would take some two weeks.

In her ruling on Tuesday, Canfy-Steinitz allowed the government to move forward with interviews but said she would uphold the halt on Bar’s ouster “amid the near date” by which the government has been ordered to respond to petitions against the move.

Four opposition parties and several NGOs have petitioned the High Court against Bar’s ouster due to the government’s alleged conflict of interest.

The court has scheduled an April 8 hearing on the petitions and ordered the government to respond to the motions at least 72 hours before the hearing.

Canfy-Steinitz is not on the panel set to hear the petitions. The panel comprises Justice Daphne Barak-Erez, Deputy Chief Justice Noam Sohlberg and Chief Justice Isaac Amit, whom the government has boycotted after he acceded to the role in February despite opposition from Justice Minister Yariv Levin.

Bar’s predecessors have argued that Netanyahu could endanger Israeli democracy by installing a loyalist atop the Shin Bet.

Bar himself has vowed to stay on as Shin Bet chief until the return of all hostages from Gaza and the formation of a state commission of inquiry into the Hamas onslaught, which the government opposes. He refused to attend the vote on his ouster and instead sent a letter accusing the government of seeking to stifle Shin Bet investigations.

Emanuel Fabian and Jeremy Sharon contributed to this report.

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