Court orders 189 former Shin Bet officials to disclose their names to David Zini
Israel’s High Court of Justice has ordered 189 former officials of the Shin Bet security service, who challenged David Zini’s appointment as its head, to provide him with their names within seven days. As The Jerusalem Post reports, the list will be given only to Zini and will not be made public.
Among the petitioners are former Shin Bet chiefs Nadav Argaman, Ami Ayalon and Carmi Gillon, as well as 186 former employees and managers of the service. In a petition filed in October, they argued that Zini had no prior intelligence experience required to lead the agency. In their view, this could pose a risk to national security and the independence of Shin Bet.
Challenge to the appointment
David Zini is a retired major general of the Israel Defense Forces. The government approved his appointment on September 30, 2025, and he took office on October 5. Former Shin Bet officials said the selection procedure did not include a substantive assessment of his professional suitability. They also referred to possible conflicts involving members of his inner circle.
The petitioners asked for the appointment to be annulled and for a new selection process to be held. Alternatively, they demanded that the government demonstrate that professional, rather than political or personal, considerations were the main criterion in choosing Zini.
More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.
The court’s position
In December, the court rejected the challenge to the appointment by a two-to-one majority. Deputy Supreme Court President Noam Sohlberg and Justice David Mintz found no grounds for judicial intervention after the candidacy had been approved by the advisory committee on senior appointments and the government.
Mintz also rejected the argument that the lack of experience at Shin Bet automatically precluded Zini’s appointment. He noted that senior officials had previously moved between different bodies in Israel’s security sector. Supreme Court President Yitzhak Amit issued a dissenting opinion, stating that the committee had insufficiently examined the circumstances of the selection, the actions of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and the possible influence of improper considerations on the process.
After the main petition was rejected, a separate dispute over the petitioners’ names continued. They submitted the list confidentially and asked that only the judges be granted access. Sohlberg ruled that there were no legal grounds to withhold the information from Zini, who has the necessary clearance for classified information. The new ruling directly obliged the petitioners to provide the list to the head of Shin Bet.
