Eisenkot Rejects Lieberman's Call to Fire Shin Bet Chief, Demands Investigation

Gadi Eisenkot, Chairman of the Yisrael Beiteinu party, stated on Monday that he does not support Avigdor Lieberman's call for the resignation of Shin Bet chief David Zini. Eisenkot argued that a serious investigation is necessary before any such demands are made. "If it emerges that there was a Shin Bet failure, then it will be possible to call for the head of the organization to resign," Eisenkot said at a conference at Reichman University. He also stated that he would expect Transportation Minister Miri Regev to resign much sooner, especially her security chief responsible for the matter, following the FlyDubai flight incident.

Eisenkot criticized the management of the Ministry of Transportation, citing unprofessionalism, cronyism, and nepotism, and suggested that in a proper state, the minister would resign immediately and the prime minister would appoint a state commission of inquiry. He also criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, stating he does not believe Netanyahu can reach 61 Knesset seats and accusing him of attempting to delegitimize 21% of Israeli citizens and aiming for further election cycles. Eisenkot added that he would not join any unity government with Netanyahu, believing that anyone at the head of the military, security, or political system after the October 7th failures should resign.

Former Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant discussed a hostage deal that was reportedly leaked in April 2024, causing negotiations to collapse. He stated that this deal was identical to the interim deal reached in January 2025. Gallant claimed that the security establishment, including the IDF Chief of Staff, Nitzan Alon, the Shin Bet chief, and the Mossad chief, supported the April deal. He explained that the negotiation team had a mandate to secure 33 live hostages, with a minimum of 18, and that the leak of these numbers to Hamas led to the deal's failure. Gallant suggested that Bezalel Smotrich's entry into the Prime Minister's office after a cabinet discussion and his subsequent statement about releasing prisoners for 18 hostages contributed to the leak. Gallant concluded that the deal, which involved releasing 110 prisoners serving life sentences, was the same as the interim deal in January 2025.