Vice Admiral (res) Eli Sharvit, Benjamin Netanyahu’s pick to head the Shin Bet, attended a protest against the government’s proposed judicial reforms, according to a report at the time.
In 2023, Ynet reported that Sharvit, the former Navy chief who looks set to replace Ronen Bar at the intelligence service following the latter’s contentious dismissal, took to the streets of Tel Aviv alongside other military officers in opposition to planned changes to the legislation governing the role of the judiciary.
The issue of the reform was a major fault line in Israeli politics before the October 7 massacres and subsequent Gaza war.
Under the proposals, the Netanyahu administration is seeking to restructure the balance of powers in order to give more sway to politicians by taking it away from unelected jurists.
The report stated that Sharvit expressed concern over the legislation, but did not join his fellow officers’ calls on reservists to refuse to serve if it was passed.
However, his apparent involvement in the demonstration is now contributing to the cool reaction his prospective appointment has received in certain political circles.
Benny Gantz, leader of the opposition Unity Party, praised Sharvit’s “values and experience” but said he should not be appointed until the judicial review of Bar’s firing has been completed. The move to dismiss Bar is snarled up in legal wrangling and is a key battleground in the very public spat between the coalition and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, whom Netanyahu is also attempting to remove.
Yair Golan, leader of the Democrats, added that Sharvit will have to “prove that his loyalty is solely to the law and the state, and not to whoever appointed him”, which he called a “difficult, almost impossible task”.
But it’s not just opposition politicians who have voice concerns, with some pushback also coming from Netanyahu’s political allies.
Tally Gotliv, an MK for the PM’s own Likud Party, has claimed that Sharvit is “not suitable to head the Shin Bet” and that there are other candidates who are “very worthy and highly qualified", which may be a reference to the fact that Sharvit reportedly speaks no Arabic and has never held a role dealing directly with Arab and Palestinian affairs.
Gotliv’s fellow Likud lawmaker Nissim Vaturi referred directly to the Ynet report in his criticism, saying that “If he protests, he will not be the head of the Shin Bet”, while Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu of Otzma Yehudit called Sharvit a “Kaplanist”, adding that his appointment “does not solve the problem, but only perpetuates it in a different framework”.
Subsequently reports from both Israel Hayom and the Times of Israel have suggested that Netanyahu is reconsidering the appointment under pressure from his allies. The Prime Minister’s Office is not commenting on the speculation, but said that the Prime Minister was “convinced that Sharvit is the right person to lead the Shin Bet on a path that will continue the organisation’s glorious tradition” when announcing his appointment.
It comes after the government won a significant victory in the Knesset by successfully passing one of the key parts of its judicial reform agenda – a law changing the balance of the committee that decides judicial appointments in favour of MKs.
Opposition parties boycotted the final vote in an all-night marathon which saw the law passed by 67-1 following the dismissal of more than 71,000 proposed amendments and parliamentary objections.
