In separate press conferences ahead of their weekly party meetings at the Knesset on Monday, opposition leader and Yesh Atid chairman MK Yair Lapid and National Unity chairman MK Benny Gantz called on IDF Maj.-Gen. David Zini to announce that he will not accept his appointment to be head of the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) unless it is carried out according to law.
Lapid in his comments said that the previous government spent “many hours” deliberating the appointment of outgoing Shin Bet head Ronen Bar, and that it was one of the “most important” government appointments.
Both Lapid and Gantz quoted reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided to appoint Zini after speaking to him for a short period during a visit to the IDF’s Ze’elim base approximately two weeks ago.
According to Lapid, the appointment was conducted so hastily that it “raised the concern” that the prime minister knew it would be frozen by the High Court and planned on using it as another excuse to criticize the court.
According to Gantz, Zini’s appointment reflected one of three options – either Netanyahu held meetings with him behind the back of IDF Chief of Staff Maj.-Gen. Eyal Zamir; appointed Zini without an in-depth examination of his views and aims for the Shin Bet; or appointed him in exchange for personal favors. Gantz said that he did not believe Zini would agree to the latter, and criticized the prime minister for what he claimed was a hasty procedure.
'Release all hostages in a deal'
Gantz alluded to a report by Channel 12’s Yaron Avraham over the weekend claiming that Zini said at one point that he opposed hostage deals since they would lead to a “forever war.”
The National Unity head said that Zini was right, but that the conclusion should be the opposite – since Israel was in a “forever war” against “jihadist elements,” the most urgent thing was to release all hostages in a deal, even if “painful.”
NETANYAHU ANNOUNCED on Thursday that he had decided to appoint Zini to the position, despite a High Court ruling a day before that the dismissal of Bar had been unlawful due to the prime minister’s conflict of interest in the “Qatargate” affair, and despite the opposition of Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara.
Later in the plenum on Monday, Lapid questioned the government about the source of funding for two agencies involved in its plan to distribute aid in the Gaza Strip.
The opposition leader questioned whether Israel had secretly financed humanitarian aid to Gaza through two shell companies: the Gaza Humanitarian Fund (GHF) and Safe Reach Solutions (SRS), established in Switzerland and the US. According to Lapid, Gulf states were expected to fund the aid but declined, citing concerns about the companies’ structure.
Despite this, $100 million appeared in the organizations’ budgets, with GHF’s CEO Jake Wood claiming the money came from “a country in Western Europe,” though no nation has acknowledged it. Wood later resigned, saying the aid plan couldn’t fully adhere to humanitarian principles.
“If this money is indeed Israeli and the government is concealing it, it would not only be a deception of Israeli citizens – whose taxes fund it – but also one of the greatest diplomatic blunders in the country’s history,” Lapid said.
“If our tax money is already purchasing humanitarian aid, funding food and medicine for children in Gaza, then let’s at least gain international recognition for it. For once, let’s have global headlines highlighting something positive Israel has done in Gaza.”
“Perhaps [National Security Minister Itamar] Ben-Gvir and [National Missions Minister Orit] Strock won’t like it, and maybe [Finance Minister Bezalel] Smotrich fears people finding out he authorized the transfer, but the money has already been sent. This benefits Israeli public diplomacy, strengthens foreign relations, and even aligns with Jewish values,” Lapid said.
“The Israeli government should proudly declare that it funds these two organizations,” the opposition leader concluded, “and do what it hates most – take responsibility for its actions and accept the consequences.”
BOTH NETANYAHU and Smotrich denied that Israel was involved in funding the aid operation.
“Israel and the United States are working in full coordination and through various means to disconnect the aid from Hamas,” Netanyahu’s spokesperson Omer Dostri said in a statement. “Israel is not funding humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.”
Lapid responded, “Instead of hiding behind press releases, the prime minister should step forward and state clearly that Israel is not funding aid to Gaza, while also answering the following questions: Is Israel the entity behind the two shell companies, GHF and SRS, established in Switzerland and the United States to organize and finance humanitarian aid to Gaza?
Could Israeli security services have been instructed by the prime minister and finance minister to transfer Israeli state funds abroad, so that they would return to Gaza as humanitarian aid?”
Smotrich said in a statement, “The State of Israel does not fund humanitarian aid for Gaza’s civilians. Period.”
He continued, “But look who is fighting our dramatic effort to take control of humanitarian aid so that it doesn’t reach Hamas, and so we can finally strangle it, defeat it, and destroy it: the UN, Hamas, the global left-wing media, and Haaretz newspaper: in short, all those who want Israel to lose and surrender and understand how dramatic the American company’s initiative is.
“Now, can someone explain why Yair Lapid is joining the opponents – those who prefer aid to continue flowing to Hamas and sustaining its rule?”