Shin Bet Director David Zini seems to relish walking into political traps.
His latest controversy was late Monday night, when he was recorded at a private event before his alma mater, seemingly pledging personal allegiance to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and slamming the legal establishment in a way that apolitical government officials, especially those with law enforcement functions, would almost never do.
This speech seemed to make it official: Zini is either exactly what all of his critics warned he would be – a yes-man for Netanyahu – or he has shown tone-deaf political instincts in a post where politics should not dictate, but must be understood, in particular regarding the opposition, which currently leads in the polls.
Since it was leaked that Zini was appointed by Netanyahu after a short interview in the prime minister’s limousine, after getting approval from his wife Sarah, and without prior notification to Zini’s then superior, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir, the Shin Bet chief has been categorized as the enemy of the opposition, which makes up around half or more of the political establishment.
Zini had not helped himself by making many public statements criticizing non-elected professional government officials for being overly independent, slamming the legal establishment, and talking up visions of the messianic era.
Zini became first Shin Bet head with no agency background since 2000
All of this came in the context of Zini being the first chief of the Shin Bet to come in with zero background in the agency since 2000, when Ami Ayalon was given the role after serving as head of the navy.
But Ayalon truly is an anomaly, as even decades before he took office, prior chiefs had come from the agency.
And of course he was appointed under the cloud of allegations that Netanyahu was firing the last chief, Ronen Bar, so that he could appoint someone who would cover up the Qatargate scandal.
The most extreme critics prophesied scenarios where Zini would interfere in the upcoming elections on behalf of Netanyahu, and Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chairman Boaz Bismuth elevated these fears recently, seemingly asking him in a letter to act against the High Court of Justice in the context of elections.
So here comes Zini, with no Shin Bet experience or connections, saying all of the wrong things before he entered office, with a cloud over him about whether he was hired specifically to be Netanyahu’s yes-man – and all he has been doing in public lately is igniting new fires.
In one controversy, he refused to shake the hands of Shin Bet female agents at an awards ceremony. There could be religious grounds for this, especially for a rabbi, but traditionally orthodox defense officials in roles for the state drop objections to light public actions like a handshake.
Another controversy involved Zini showing insensitivity to LGBTQ Shin Bet agents, another one to October 7 victims’ families, another pressing his own Shin Bet legal advisor to change certain legal opinions under potentially political circumstances such as regarding where Netanyahu’s trial could take place, another when he protected Likud MK Tali Gotliv from indictment for months by stalling signing a standard legal form in his capacity as Shin Bet chief, and now the latest and largest drama – a speech in office seeming to confirm he is Netanyahu’s yes-man.
On closer analysis, the narrative is more complex.
The number one concrete objection to his appointment, that he would block the Qatargate probe, has not panned out. In fact, the close officials to Netanyahu in the Qatargate affair have been indicted despite Zini’s appointment.
Critics could argue that most of Qatargate on the Shin Bet’s end was wrapped up before Zini took office. But he probably could have interfered in some way once in office and has not.
In addition, his brother was indicted in a case about smuggling illegal items into Gaza, and he did not intervene despite predictions that he would try to.
None of the above scandals are smart fights for him to pick, as they all likely distract from the Shin Bet’s main mission: fighting terror.
But neither do his actions in those cases, however problematic or poor in strategy, really implicate his basic security qualifications or competence for running the agency.
In that respect, the Shin Bet machine for catching or helping assassinate Palestinian and other terrorists seems to have continued at a strong rate since October 2025.
If there is one weak point in its mission under Zini, it would be regarding combating Jewish violent extremists’ actions against innocent West Bank Palestinians.
But this issue has always primarily been a police mission, and the main failure in combating the violent Jewish extremists phenomenon rests with the police.
This brings us back to Zini’s speech on Monday night.
Full recording of Zini remarks more moderate than leaked clips
Once one hears the full recording of the speech, and not just the selected pieces leaked by I24 News, Zini’s remarks come off as somewhat more moderate.
It is true that Zini said he was very loyal to the “elected echelon.” But he did not utter the word “Netanyahu.” And in the full recording, his statement had critical context: “a reason that maybe I am better than the others. For my ability to remain loyal to the elected echelon, not that it matters what their ideology is. It could be others [other than Netanyahu] .”
Zini’s remarks do show a clear loyalty to Netanyahu and a belief that his predecessors in the Shin Bet and other government officials have put their own personal views too far above the elected echelon. But it is also clear from his remarks that he would be ready to serve under a new prime minister who is not Netanyahu, if that person should be elected in the upcoming elections.
Likewise, Zini did slam the legal establishment, but his remarks carried some nuance: “With all due respect to the lawyers and jurists,” they are meant to be a kind of ancillary tool to assist on specific issues. “I am not speaking about the Justice Ministry, I am speaking about all of the other things.” When suddenly the audience started to cheer and clap, he pushed back, saying, “No, my friends, don’t take this to that kind of a place. A country with no law and with no legal establishment would be a destroyed state. Don’t take it to that place.”
True, Zini views the current legal establishment as overly activist in addressing policies from the elected echelons, but his statement that “no legal establishment would be a destroyed state” moderates those views compared to the recent intense attacks on the legal establishment by the coalition.
And maybe if Zini had made this speech in a vacuum and quickly rushed out the full recording and a clarification of his remarks, he would get the benefit of the doubt.
Zini makes no move to clear the air
Certainly, the smallest and most standard public relations move would be to issue a clarification and to publicly send out the full recording, which The Jerusalem Post was able to privately acquire.
He has done nothing real to clear the air.
And Zini could have known that any public remarks he made on these issues would be colored by his public image to date.
His decision to lean into these issues anyway shows either a misunderstanding of how deeply vulnerable his job is if the opposition wins the upcoming election or signals that, despite the nuances in his Monday speech, he does not care much about continuing under a new government and is ready to go all in on Netanyahu.
