A record number of appeals, over 10,000, have been submitted to the Gronis Committee in recent days against the appointment of Maj.-Gen. (Res.) David Zini as head of the Shin Bet.

The Gronis Committee, the body responsible for reviewing high-level civil service appointments, is scheduled to convene on Thursday to discuss approving Zini’s appointment, following a request from Prime Minister Netanyahu.

According to a report by Ynet military commentator Yossi Yehoshua, the appeals claim, among other things, that Zini’s public positions raise concerns and that Netanyahu himself previously rejected Zini’s candidacy due to fears that he tended to be “messianic.” Others claimed that he failed to act with full transparency towards his commanders. Most of the appeals repeat the same claims in different wording.

However, alongside the appeals against his candidacy, letters were also received from former commanders and subordinates who expressed support for Zini’s appointment and noted his extensive operational experience.

It should be noted that Zini was one of the few senior IDF officials who was not fooled by the “conceptzia” that pervaded the army before the October 7 massacre. When announcing his appointment, Netanyahu stated: “In March 2023, Zini prepared a report for the commander of the Gaza Division to examine the division’s preparedness for a complex surprise event, with an emphasis on a surprise raid, and to identify weaknesses. As part of the report’s conclusions, Zini wrote that it is possible to carry out a surprise raid on our forces in almost every sector.”

It is possible that the unusual number of appeals may trigger a series of legal proceedings prior to a final ruling and may even reach the Supreme Court.

Zini’s supporters say that the unusual number of appeals indicates a leftist campaign intended to thwart his appointment for political reasons.

Earlier this month, the radical left Haaretz newspaper published a fear-mongering cover feature on Zini, stating, “Israel has had extremists in senior positions, but a Shin Bet chief like David Zini is unprecedented.”

Haaretz has a history of antisemitic attacks on religious IDF generals and religious people in general.

At the time, former Shin Bet official Col. (res.) Amit Assa slammed Haaretz for the feature, saying, “There is a campaign being run by an antisemitic media outlet here. We see the things that come out of there. This is a smear campaign against the head of the service before he even takes office.”

Israeli social media user Ze’ev Avrahami wrote in response to the Haaretz feature: “David Zini is a son of a rabbinical dynasty, a Mizrachi from the periphery, a father of 11 children, a yeshiva graduate and a Sayeret Matkal veteran. They define his different set of values as messianic. So be it. Begging the Palestinians for peace isn’t messianic?”

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)