Netanyahu Names New Shin Bet Chief in Defiance of Legal Guidance

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday appointed a new head of the Shin-Bet domestic intelligence agency, ignoring his own attorney general’s legal guidance and exacerbating a weeks-long battle over the previous chief’s ouster.

The new director, Major General David Zini, is currently the Israeli Defense Forces’ head of Training Command and commander of the General Staff Corps. Zini, 51, has been in the military for over three decades and commanded some of the IDF’s elite combat units, although it’s unusual for someone outside Shin Bet to be appointed its head.