It is by no means certain that former navy commander Eli Sharvit will end up as the next head of the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), even after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced his appointment as successor to the current head, Ronen Bar.
There are several hurdles that may trip up the appointment.
The first is if the High Court of Justice, which has issued a temporary injunction against Bar’s dismissal until it hears the case on April 8, rules that because of a conflict of interest surrounding Qatargate, Netanyahu cannot dismiss Bar.
The second is that the prime minister may reverse the appointment himself after loud objections to his appointment were raised by members of the coalition because Sharvit took part in anti-judicial reform protests in Tel Aviv in March 2023, BECAUSE he supported the maritime deal then-prime minister Yair Lapid signed with Lebanon in 2022, and because of US objections.
It is hard to believe that Netanyahu did not conduct his due diligence about Sharvit before making the surprise announcement and that he was unaware of the former Navy commander’s participation in the demonstrations.Perhaps, however, he did not anticipate the fierceness of the objection from within his coalition.
If Sharvit does not get the job because of this, it would not be the first time that participation in an anti-judicial reform demonstration has hurt a rising career trajectory in a position near the prime minister.
In May 2024, after distinguishing himself as an articulate spokesman for the government during the first few months of the war, Eylon Levy was let go, with his participation in anti-reform protests and an unflattering social media post about the government reportedly being one of several reasons he was dismissed.
Officials close to the prime minister were paving the way for a reversal of the Sharvit appointment just hours after Netanyahu made his initial announcement by saying that there would likely be objections to this appointment from Washington because of comments Sharvit made in the past critical of US President Donald Trump’s positions on the climate.
And no sooner were officials briefing reporters on this likelihood than no less a stalwart supporter of Israel than Senator Lindsey Graham came out against the appointment, advising Israel to rescind it and saying that statements made by Sharvit about Trump “will create unnecessary stress at a critical time.”
In January, three days after Trump was sworn into office, Sharvit – CEO of Elgry Eco Energy – wrote an op-ed for the financial daily Calcalist slamming Trump for his climate policies.
He wrote that Trump’s decision to move away from investments in green energy and reliance on “polluting fuels” sends a “destructive message to the world.”
“Trump’s shortsightedness sends a shocking message of disregard for scientific reality, humanity’s welfare, and responsibility for future generations,” he wrote. “This approach is nothing less than ‘eat and drink, for tomorrow we die’ in a political guise – a strategy to evade global consequences by satisfying immediate interests of polluting fuel industries.”
It’s hard to believe that – without someone in Jerusalem tipping him off – Graham would be aware of Sharvit’s sharp criticism of Trump’s energy policy.
So if the country woke up to the news that Sharvit would be the new Shin Bet head – and scratching their heads trying to remember if and when they had heard his name before – by day’s end, the appointment appeared more and more in doubt.
In some ways, that is a shame. Chief among them: The idea of bringing in someone from the outside to lead an agency reeling from the failures of October 7 and the constant battle between Bar and Netanyahu is much needed.
A new, fresh pair of eyes is necessary to get the organization back on track and to repair its relationship with the government, and the widely respected Sharvit seemed like somebody who could do the job.
Yisrael Beytenu head Avigdor Liberman slammed the intention to appoint Sharvit, saying Sharvit does not have any intelligence experience. But Liberman’s criticism was predictable – anyone Netanyahu appoints is likely to be reflexively criticized by opposition figures such as Liberman and heads of the anti-Netanyahu protest movement.
The notable exception was National Unity MK and former IDF chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot, who welcomed without any “ifs” or “buts” the appointment of Sharvit, whom he termed a “leader and commander with a professional and ethical backbone.”
Liberman’s criticism that Sharvit had no intelligence experience rang more than a little hollow, considering that the Yisrael Beytenu chair took over the Foreign Ministry in 2009 without diplomatic experience and the Defense Ministry in 2016 without much of a defense background to speak of.
For Liberman and others, such as Yesh Atid’s Yair Lapid or The Democrats Yair Golan, the criticism is political. If Netanyahu says black, they will say white, regardless of the merits. And that is unfortunate.
As for Sharvit’s lack of intelligence credentials or his status as an outsider to the Shin Bet – that may actually be what the country needs, not only in the Shin Bet but across the political and military spectrum. New leaders in key roles, unburdened by institutional groupthink, might be better able to see problems clearly and propose new solutions to old challenges.
Ronen Bar's performance
Ronen Bar had a great deal of Shin Bet experience. How well did that work on October 7?
And at a political level, many Israelis would be more than happy to see people move into leadership positions who have not been in the system or held those positions for years – fresh faces bringing new perspectives and new ideas to the job.
Yisrael Hasson, a former deputy head of the Shin Bet, said that knowledge of the agency can be acquired. What Sharvit could bring to the job is an understanding of how things ought to work – and if you have that understanding, then the technical knowledge can be learned.
“You don’t need to be a dead person to run the chevra kadisha (burial society),” Hasson said in a KAN Reshet Bet interview, meaning that it is not necessary to come from a particular organization or institution to lead it.
At a political level, Israel is still being led by those responsible for the October 7 failures – though on the security and military side, senior officers are being replaced. Bringing in people from outside the system – at a time when public trust in state institutions is at an all-time low – could help restore confidence.
Even if Sharvit, in the final analysis, does not become the Shin Bet’s head, the idea of bringing someone in from the outside to set the house in order at this vital institution is not a bad one at all. On the contrary, it may be precisely what the country needs.
After the catastrophic failures of October 7, restoring public trust will require more than reshuffling insiders with vast experience. It will demand leaders unafraid to challenge the prevailing assumptions, and sometimes, that can only be done by those who do not come with the ingrained mindset of the particular institution that needs to be shaken up.