Meet David Zini, Netanyahu's 'extremist' pick to head Israel's Shin Bet
Meet David Zini, Netanyahu's 'extremist' pick to head Israel's Shin Bet
On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent a letter requesting the advancement of his pick for the role of head of Shin Bet, Israel’s extremely powerful internal security agency.
The man in question, David Zini, is a religious Zionist who has called Palestinians a “divine existential threat” and has said that “our enemies are the enemies of the Holy One”.
As a commander in the Golani Infantry Brigade’s 12th battalion he was, according to a Haaretz profile, given two nicknames: Ahmazinijad, after the conservative Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and Zinitiocus, inspired by the Greek king Antiochus, who was notorious for his persecution of the Jews.
A former major general in the Israeli army, confirmation of his appointment is expected soon, after Netanyahu hounded his predecessor, Ronen Bar, into stepping down in June.
It is a hugely controversial move, particularly among liberals in Israel, who see Zini as posing another existential threat to democracy.
Shin Bet is currently investigating two scandals that stretch right into the heart of Netanyahu’s office. Gali Baharav-Miara, Israel’s attorney general, has said that the prime minister “cannot deal with the appointment of the head of the Shin Bet” while serious allegations are being levelled at members of his staff in the Qatargate scandal, and following the leaking of forged Hamas documents to German newspaper Bild and British paper the Jewish Chronicle.
In both cases, officials close to Netanyahu, including his close adviser for many years, Jonatan Urich, are being investigated.
Baharav-Miara wrote that Netanyahu had acted in a “serious conflict of interest” and added that he had “acted contrary to the Supreme Court's decision - in conscious violation of binding legal guidelines”.
Last March, shortly after the Qatargate affair – as part of which Urich and another Netanyahu adviser, Eli Feldstein, were arrested on suspicion of contact with a foreign agent - Netanyahu made headlines when he decided to fire the Shin Bet chief Bar, saying he had “lost his trust”.
'Zini's appointment is terrible, but we must not forget that the Shin Bet is a terrible organisation'
- Anat Matar, Tel Aviv University
The Supreme Court blocked Bar's dismissal. A month later, the intelligence chief announced that he would leave his position in June and was replaced by his deputy, who is known only as “S”.
In July, the Supreme Court announced that a compromise had been reached between the attorney general and the government regarding the appointment of Zini.
This compromise resulted in the presentation of Zini’s appointment to the Committee for the Appointment of Senior Officials on Thursday, while Shin Bet is allowed to continue investigating both Qatargate and the forged document leak without a conflict of interest.
The court stated that Zini would not be able to deal with both affairs until a conflict-of-interest agreement was drawn up for him.
Anat Matar, a senior lecturer in the philosophy department at Tel Aviv University and a human rights activist, told Middle East Eye that “Zini's appointment is terrible, but we must not forget that the Shin Bet is a terrible organisation.”
Matar pointed to the internal security agency’s use of administrative detention, whereby a person is held without a trial having committed no offence, “by the many thousands”, as one of its best-known tactics, and said Israel’s Supreme Court was “blindly complying” with the agency’s arrest requests.
“The Shin Bet uses administrative detention for the purpose of extortion, denial of permits, and to get people to collaborate,” Matar said.
'Full Putin mode'
Zini, whose upbringing was steeped in an extreme form of religious Zionism, symbolises “a preference for knitted kippahs for senior positions” in the defence establishment, a former senior Israeli security official told Middle East Eye, referring to the entry of settlers and religious Zionists into Israel’s security leadership.
“Netanyahu's general approach is quite clear: he has completely lost his restraints, he is in full [Vladimir] Putin mode; as long as he thinks they serve his agenda” he will appoint settlers, said the former official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
'Netanyahu's general approach is quite clear: he has completely lost his restraints, he is in full Putin mode'
- Former senior Israeli security official
Matar told MEE that there had been a demographic change and that “the presence of the settlers in the army is much stronger".
"The alliance between Netanyahu and the settlers has been strengthened in recent years as the only thing that can keep him in power," she said.
"The difference between Netanyahu and Smotrich and Ben Gvir is decreasing, and in practice, in the end there is no difference between them,“ she added, referring to the hardline settler leaders and ministers.
The manner of Zini’s appointment has also sparked surprise and outrage in army ranks. One senior defence official said that chief of staff Eyal Zamir “was furious at the decision being made behind his back”.
Netanyahu reportedly interviewed Zini during a visit to a military base. The meeting between the two men took place in the prime minister’s car. According to sources who spoke to Haaretz, Zini said that Netanyahu “threw at me the position of Shin Bet chief”.
As a result, on 23 May, Zamir dismissed Zini, a major general, from his army position. An army spokesperson gave their view of events: "In a conversation between the chief of staff and the general, it was agreed that he would retire in light of his agreement to the position of Shin Bet chief."
To justify Zini's appointment, Netanyahu looked to boost Zini’s reputation in the media. In a video from the Mefalsim area, near the Gaza border, Zini is seen standing around the bodies of a few Hamas fighters. His supporters claimed that he took part in the battle in which the fighters were killed, but according to Haaretz, this is not the case.
A military investigation revealed that the Israeli Air Force killed the Hamas fighters in question, and that Zini arrived at the scene only after the battle. "Zini didn't fire a single bullet there," a senior army official told Haaretz.
Netanyahu also claimed, based on a classified document Zini wrote before 7 October about the army's readiness for an invasion from Gaza, that Zini warned of a Hamas attack. But according to military sources who spoke to Haaretz, Netanyahu made "false and manipulative use of the document".
Public concern
Zini's appointment has caused a stir among the Israeli public, due to his extremist views and the powers he would hold if appointed.
"The Shin Bet is an organisation that has unlimited power," a former senior Israeli security official told Middle East Eye.
"The Shin Bet can do things whether they are within the framework of the law, or in the grey area, or even outside the framework of the law, and it can do them because there is not effective supervision on it.
"Although the Shin Bet is one of the most professional organisations in the State of Israel, it has been possible to see in recent months the penetration of trends we have seen in other organisations," the senior official said, comparing the Shin Bet to the police, which is accused of being subject to a takeover by settler leader and national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.
For this official, a pivotal moment arrived when the whole of Shin Bet failed to stand behind Ronen Bar as he faced “the brutal attack of Netanyahu”.
"In the Shin Bet that I knew years ago, there was no question at all that the entire organisation would have stood behind him," the official said.
"It is clear that Zini will not complete investigations against hilltop youths, but even today there is none. It's not something that anyone wants to deal with at all, because it's at the core of the rulers' ideology," Matar said, referring to settler gangs.
'We are all messianic'
In June, Haaretz reported that Zini had said in private conversations that "the judicial system is a dictatorship that rules the entire country".
Zini has also criticised past Shin Bet chiefs, saying: "They say they are first and foremost subject to the law, but that's not true. They have to act according to the law, but they are first and foremost subordinate to the prime minister."
'The biggest story is to destroy Hamas and Islamic Jihad and any other terrorist entity'
- David Zini
That same month, during Zini's army retirement ceremony, he said that, "Messianism is not a derogatory word." In Israel, many accuse Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Ben Gvir of being messianic.
"We are all messianic, messianic like David Ben-Gurion and the founding fathers of a nation that sees the great vision of our nation as a message to the entire world," Zini said.
This fervour was initially seen as a problem. In January, Haaretz reported that Netanyahu had rejected Zini's candidacy for the post of his military secretary because he was "too messianic".
Channel 12 News revealed in May that during a meeting with residents of the Gaza envelope, the area of southern Israel close to the boundary with the Palestinian enclave, Zini said that the release of the captives was "delaying" the defeat of Hamas.
"The biggest story is to destroy Hamas and Islamic Jihad and any other terrorist entity. That's the most important part, and we're dealing with it. We still have a long way to go," Zini said at the meeting.
"There is an intelligence warning that bad Muslims intend to kill good Jews from the time Ishmael was born until further notice," Zini said, referring to the biblical figure of Ishmael, who is regarded as the ancestor of the Arabs.
Captives' families have expressed deep concern about the appointment of Zini, who has referred to Israel’s genocide in Gaza as an “eternal war”.
Shin Bet’s influence in Gaza is minimal, according to the former intelligence official, as the army is "calling the shots" there. But in the occupied West Bank, the situation is "much more dramatic".
"The Shin Bet is very significant there. Zini can make changes in aspects related to Jewish terror and aspects related to cooperation with the Palestinian Authority," they said.
Growing up extremist
Not only do Zini's statements in public and in private conversations attest to his extremism, but also the way he grew up and advanced in the army.
Zini lives in the religious community of Keshet in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights, which was established after the 1973 war to prevent an Israeli withdrawal from the territory that Israel occupied.
Zini and his wife Naomi have 11 children. "He is the only officer with 11 children," a senior army official told Haaretz.
'Zini's messianism and his closeness to targets of the Shin Bet is unthinkable in a properly run country'
- Former senior Israeli security official
According to Haaretz, Zini is closely associated with Rabbi Zvi Thau, the spiritual leader of the extreme far-right Noam party. The party, which is currently represented in the Knesset by MK Avi Maoz, is known in Israel as extremist even compared to the parties of Smotrich and Ben Gvir, and its members have been accused many times of hatred towards women, non-Jews, the LGBTQ+ community and secular Jews.
Zini enlisted in an elite unit of the Israeli army and became an officer in the Golani Commando Unit, where he was held in high regard. However, over time, his promotion was halted, and he was appointed to insignificant positions, while advancing to the rank of major general.
"The chiefs of staff have always refrained from giving him a significant command role," a senior military official told Haaretz, "because his nationalist nature and extremism were known to all."
According to Haaretz, the rank of major general was given to Zini following pressure from Netanyahu and the settler lobby, but he continued to hold marginal positions until his retirement.
The Palestinian enemy
The rest of Zini's family is also known for their extremist views. His father, Rabbi Yosef Zini, a student of Rabbi Thau himself, joined the Noam Party in 2021.
Zini's brother, Bezalel, was one of the founders of the party. These days, Bezalel Zini is the commander of the Uriah Force, which consists of 100 reservists and private contractors who destroy Palestinian homes in the southern Gaza Strip.
The Uriah Force is mostly made up of hilltop youths who are openly working to demolish as many buildings in Gaza as possible.
Another of Zini's brothers, Shmuel, works closely with American billionaire Simon Falik, who is very close to Netanyahu's family. According to reports, the wife of the prime minister, Sara Netanyahu, on the advice of Shmuel, pushed for David Zini's candidacy for the post of army chief of staff before Zamir was appointed.
In 2024, Zini's wife, Naomi, wrote in her book that "demolishing homes in Gaza is a mitzvah [commandment]. Eliminating terrorists in Gaza is a mitzvah." She added: "Gaza must also be inherited and settled."
"Zini's messianism and his closeness to targets of the Shin Bet is unthinkable in a properly run country," the former senior official told Middle East Eye. "It's quite similar to the story of Ben Gvir and the police, but it's even worse. To illustrate, it's like taking Al Capone and appointing him Chicago police chief.”
According to the former security official, there is no indication that Zini himself is involved in Jewish terror attacks against Palestinians, but “if it's not him, then it's his brother, his rabbi, his friends, his community, his entire environment.”
“To take such a person and appoint him as the head of the organisation that is supposed to deal with these phenomena is unacceptable.”
“For the Palestinians, Zini will be even more horrible,” Matar told Middle East Eye. She believes Zini “will persecute political activists, even today the Shin Bet does that, but if I were a Palestinian human rights activist, I would be really afraid of the moment he is appointed.
“I believe that there will be persecution of every political work, of anyone who displays political consciousness,” Matar said, adding that Palestinians inside Israel are also in danger. “This is a man who doesn't want to see Palestinians here in any form.”
