Israeli PM says new intelligence chief to take office next month

By James Mackenzie

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday the newly named head of the domestic intelligence service would take office without delay next month, following a bitter row over the removal of his predecessor.

"The Prime Minister is responsible for the security of the state, even more so during a multi-front war," Netanyahu said in a statement, following the appointment of Major General David Zini, head of the military's Training and Doctrine Command as head of the Shin Bet intelligence service.

Zini will replace Ronen Bar, who said he would resign on June 15 following a bitter dispute with Netanyahu who tried to sack him in March before the decision was blocked by a Supreme Court temporary injunction.

Last month the Supreme Court ruled that the dismissal was illegal but Bar said he would step down to allow an orderly handover.

Netanyahu said when he announced the dismissal in March that he had lost confidence in Bar over Shin Bet's failure to prevent the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.

The move drew a furious reaction from critics who said the real reason for Bar's dismissal was an investigation by police and Shin Bet into possible financial ties between a number of close aides of the prime minister and Qatar.

The affair sparked large demonstrations in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem by protesters who said Netanyahu was undermining democracy by trying to sack Bar while the so-called "Qatargate" investigation was underway.

Earlier this month, the Supreme Court ruled that Bar's dismissal was done in violation of the law, and that Netanyahu had a conflict of interest over the Qatargate investigation.

Bar had always accepted responsibility for Shin Bet's failure in forestalling the October 7 attacks and had said he would leave his post early.

Netanyahu said any delay in appointing a new head of the agency, which conducts counterterrorism investigations, was a "security requirement of the highest order, any delay harms the security of the state and the security of our soldiers".

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The standoff over the head of Shin Bet followed more than two years of hostility between Netanyahu supporters and elements of the security and defence establishment that was worsened by blame over the failures that allowed Hamas' October 7 attack.

On Friday, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement that Zini would be leaving the military in the coming days and that any discourse between serving soldiers and the government had to be approved by the chief of the general staff, indicating the appointment had been made without its knowledge.

The issue has been one of the most prominent battlegrounds between the government and an array of anti-Netanyahu groups who have attacked him over issues ranging from plans to curb the power of the judiciary to the failure to agree a hostage deal in Gaza.

Zini's appointment was condemned by opposition parties and by the attorney general, Gali Baharav-Miara, who said Netanyahu was acting against legal guidance and that there were serious conflict of interest concerns.

Baharav-Miara has herself clashed repeatedly with Netanyahu over the legality of some of his policies and the cabinet has approved a no-confidence motion.

In a sign of how poisoned the political atmosphere has become in Israel, Defence Minister Israel Katz said he had barred opposition politician Yair Golan, a former deputy head of the Israeli military who now leads the small left-wing Democrats party, from serving in the reserves.

Golan, who single-handedly rescued people from the Hamas attack on Israel after driving to the scene on October 7, 2023, warned this week that Israel risked becoming a "pariah state" over the war in Gaza, and said "a sane country does not fight against civilians, does not kill babies as a hobby".

Katz said the comments amounted to a "blood libel" and would expose Israeli soldiers to being arrested by international courts when travelling abroad.

"I have decided to instruct the IDF not to call Yair Golan up for reserve duty anymore and to prohibit him from wearing the IDF uniform and entering IDF bases," Katz said in a statement.

(Reporting by James MackenzieEditing by Gareth Jones)