Eli who? Most people had never heard of Eli Sharvit when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu surprisingly announced him as the next head of the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) on Monday. He was not on the shortlist of known candidates to replace Ronen Bar, and you could almost hear the experts who follow Israel’s clandestine security services frantically rummaging through their notes to check up on the worthiness of the former sailor’s credentials for the job.
A thoroughly decent fellow, I thought to myself when I heard Sharvit’s name mentioned. I recalled immediately that I had interviewed him about 10 years ago, not long before he was appointed commander of the navy.
While waiting to meet him when he was commander of the main naval base in Haifa, he strode towards me. A tall, well-built man with a booming voice, he offered a very firm handshake and then he led me through a door into his office, where I was confronted by an incredible vista.
Definitely, this was one of the most stunning office views anyone could wish for, in any job, anywhere. All of Haifa Bay was laid out before us. Scores of ships of all shapes and sizes were waiting at anchor to be allowed to dock to offload their containers, cars, grain, and other goods, or to take on whatever was waiting at the quayside to be exported to foreign destinations.
Sharvit was fully aware that the incredible view that welcomed him every day when he came to work would be a great conversation starter. He wasn’t wrong. He then declared proudly that 96% of all Israeli imports and exports arrived by sea and that it was the vessels and sailors under his command who were tasked to ensure that all those ships would be able to enter port safely to load and unload their cargoes, and then sail calmly away.
Tensions with Iran
Sharvit might have been trying to obfuscate the conversation that I wanted to have, as at the time, it was clear to both him and me – and all journalists – that the focus was ships below the water line. As tensions with Iran were ratcheting up, and when the Dolphin class submarines and the first of the brand new Dolphin II class were already stealthily patrolling the depths, what I, like all other news people wanted to talk about much more than commercial shipping, was whether those subs could act as a credible deterrent to Iran’s nuclear threat and whether they could be used in a “second-strike” scenario.
After all, isn’t that is what those submarines were for?
No matter how persistently I broached the issue, albeit politely, and even if Sharvit’s imposing disposition left little doubt that, like a snoozing bear, he was not one who enjoyed being prodded, his responses were diplomatic, calm, and on message. He was an experienced officer, then holding the rank of rear-admiral, and he wasn’t going to inadvertently spill any beans. He didn’t.
I left his office after a businesslike and fairly informative hour, having learned about the sea and the potential threats to shipping and other offshore assets that demanded the navy’s protection. I wasn’t expecting any more information than Sharvit would be willing to divulge, but you never know, sometimes you get a tidbit of information that might somehow become useful one day.
Such a tidbit came early on Monday morning. Sharvit, I thought, came across as a thoroughly decent guy. All the experts soon speaking on the airwaves about the man seemed to agree, although some thought he didn’t have some of the vital attributes required to lead the Shin Bet while Israel is at war with foes who operate mainly in Arabic.
On Tuesday, just one day after Sharvit’s name was touted for the Shin Bet job, Netanyahu rescinded it. Word had spread that he was an independent thinker who spoke his own mind and had voiced certain views on various security issues that didn’t sit well with the views of the current government, and because as a civilian, he took part in a demonstration alongside many other Israeli patriots, including fellow retired senior officers, opposing judicial reform legislation. Under no circumstances could he be “their” man.
Whatever the prime minister was thinking when he named Sharvit, he didn’t do his research before he put his candidate in the spotlight, but that won’t reflect badly on the retired naval officer, who has now forged a career in the private sector.
With little doubt, Sharvit will sail through this choppy stretch of water and will emerge unscathed but it’s less clear whether those responsible for appointing him and then rescinding the offer will find their voyage to be calm.