Netanyahu taps new domestic intelligence chief amid Qatar probe

31/3/2025 19:17

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu named a new chief to take over Israel's domestic intelligence agency, his office said on Monday, after a bitter standoff with the current head who has been leading a corruption investigation against Netanyahu aides.



Netanyahu tapped a former commander of Israel's navy, Eli Sharvit, to replace Shin Bet head Ronen Bar, who remains in office pending a Supreme Court decision over legal challenges to his dismissal.



Government moves to dismiss Bar, who has presided over an investigation into possible ties between Qatar and a number of Netanyahu's aides, have provoked mass protests in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem



"Vice-Admiral Sharvit has served in the IDF (Israel Defence Forces) for 36 years, including five years as Commander of the Israel Navy. In that position, he led the force-building of maritime defence of territorial waters and conducted complex operations against Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran," Netanyahu said in

a statement.



Netanyahu said he had lost his confidence in Bar over the

October 7, 2023, security failure that led to Israel's deadliest

single day and triggered the war against Hamas in Gaza.