A growing number of former senior officials in Israel’s security establishment are speaking out against the potential appointment of David Zini as head of the ISA (Shin Bet).
Four former ISA directors—Nadav Argaman, Ami Ayalon, Yoram Cohen, and Carmi Gillon—have formally submitted their objections to the Grunis Committee, the advisory body tasked with reviewing senior government appointments. Their move follows a letter sent a day earlier by 260 former ISA employees, also opposing Zini’s nomination.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had recommended Zini for the role and forwarded his name to the Grunis Committee, which is expected to issue an advisory opinion on the matter.
Yehoda Vald, CEO of the Religious Zionism party, responded on social media, framing the opposition as ideologically driven.
“They would have done the same if it were Ofer Winter, Avi Bluth, Dado Bar Kalifa, or anyone else with a knitted kippah who grew up in a national-religious environment,” Vald tweeted. “To them, anyone who doesn’t come from the ‘correct and enlightened’ camp is a danger to the state. We must not allow this minority to prevail.”
Brig. Gen. (res.) Ofer Winter, who wrote a letter supporting Zini’s candidacy to the Grunis Committee, also took to Facebook to defend the nomination. “It’s time to stop appointing messianic people to the highest positions in the country” — a pointed remark aimed at the left.
Winter argued that the real “messianics” were those who had pursued peace processes like the Oslo Accords, which he claims led to waves of terrorism and national security setbacks.
“These are the ones who pushed for the two-state vision and gave us exploding buses and hundreds of ‘victims of peace,’” he wrote. “They abandoned Lebanon and handed it over to Hezbollah. They disengaged from Gaza, expelling the salt of the earth—farmers, men of labor and peace—and gave it to Hamas.”
Winter questioned the authority of the former ISA heads opposing Zini’s appointment, calling their criticisms hypocritical.
“David Zini is a brave soldier and commander who sees reality as it is. He’s proven his leadership repeatedly and knows who the enemy is,” Winter wrote. “He will never be deceived by false promises of calm.”
He concluded with a call for unity and realism in leadership: “It’s time to stop categorizing people by irrelevant labels. Let’s put a realistic, capable person at the head of the ISA — for the people of Israel and the future of our children.”
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