Jerusalem (AFP) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Tuesday he had reversed a decision to appoint former navy commander Vice Admiral Eli Sharvit as security agency chief following criticism, including from a key US senator.
Netanyahu had announced Sharvit’s appointment on Monday, pushing back against a supreme court decision to freeze his government’s move to dismiss incumbent director Ronen Bar.
It later emerged that the former naval chief had publicly opposed key policies of the Netanyahu government and US President Donald Trump.
“The prime minister thanked Vice Admiral Sharvit for his willingness to be called to duty but informed him that, after further consideration, he intends to examine other candidates,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.
The prime minister announced Bar’s dismissal on March 21, citing an “ongoing lack of trust”, but the supreme court swiftly suspended the decision until April 8.
The move to dismiss him has sparked daily mass protests in Jerusalem, disrupting the city.
On Monday, hours after Sharvit’s appointment was announced, reports began surfacing that he had been among tens of thousands of Israelis who took to the streets in 2023 to oppose the Netanyahu government’s attempts to reform the judiciary.
Israeli media reports also recalled that Sharvit, who served in the military for 36 years, had supported a 2022 water agreement with Lebanon that Netanyahu had opposed.