Will 'R' be confirmed as next Shin Bet chief tomorrow?

• Published date: 07 October 2021
• Author: YONAH JEREMY BOB
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

Although Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's decision to select R to take office on October 13 as the next chief was announced on September 1, his final confirmation was set for this Friday.

The vetting task force, the Goldenberg Committee for Senior Appointments, led by former Supreme Court justice and state comptroller Eliezer Goldenberg, was due to give its nearly automatic stamp of approval on Friday.

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No one had objected to R, who is the current deputy chief and who has had a storied career of daring operations for decades.

There was no political cloud as there might have been had former national security council chief Meir Ben Shabbat gotten the role.

The committee did tank Moshe Edri's nomination for police inspector-general in 2018 and there have been some other such appointments. But most, including those of Aviv Kohavi as IDF chief of staff or of Amir Yaron as Bank of Israel president, sailed through without a hitch.

So Friday's sign-off was supposed to be a boring non-show for a committee that almost always approves who the government nominates, and is just there to catch any last-minute catastrophic surprises missed by negligent vetting.

That was until late Wednesday night when an anonymous letter detailing two unspecified alleged incidents of misconduct against R came to light.

The disclosure threw the media into a frenzy with speculation that the allegations could derail R's nomination.

What are R's chances at this point?

First, no one knows for sure, because his current Shin Bet background means the allegations cannot be publicized. The exception could be if there were criminal allegations, but all signs are that the allegations are of more minor unbecoming conduct. From what little we know, the signs are that R will be able to ride out the storm.

A statement from R said: "This is an anonymous letter that was written and sent about three years ago and is now being widely distributed.

Behind the letter is an interested party who previously wanted to undermine two promotions."

"The letter lacks a factual basis, is full of lies and is again intended to hurt my appointment," he said. "If required, evidence of this will be presented to the senior appointments committee."

There are at least two significant things about the response. One is that, if true, these are old allegations that have already been taken into...