Israeli Court Orders Former Shin Bet Agents to Reveal Identities to Agency Head

Israel's Supreme Court has ordered former Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) agents who filed a petition against the agency's current head, David Barnea, to reveal their identities to him within one week. The ruling came after Barnea requested the court enforce a contempt of court order, asserting his right to know the names of the petitioners.

The petition was initially filed by former Shin Bet chief Nadav Argaman and 188 other individuals against the government, the Prime Minister, the Shin Bet, and Barnea himself. This decision follows a December ruling which stated that the petitioners had not provided legal grounds for concealing their names from an individual with appropriate security clearance who is also a respondent in the case.

The court emphasized that a petition to the court is not a petition that can be signed anonymously while making serious allegations against others without facing consequences. However, the list of names remains confidential and is not accessible to the public; the dispute concerns only its disclosure to Barnea.

Despite a suggestion from Deputy President of the Supreme Court Noam Sohlberg that Barnea might consider forgoing the names after the petition's conclusion, particularly given the petitioners are former agents who could still assist the agency, Barnea insisted on his right to receive the list. Consequently, President Yitzhak Amit, Deputy President Sohlberg, and Justice David Mintz ruled that the petitioners must provide their names to Barnea within seven days, noting that this order is issued without prejudice to whether previous decisions already mandated such disclosure.