The High Court of Justice convened on Tuesday to hear the petitions against the appointment of David Zini as head of the Shin Bet, about a month after he assumed the position.
Supreme Court President Yitzhak Amit, Deputy President Noam Sohlberg, and Justice David Mintz heard the petitioners’ claims that Zini is unfit to serve and was appointed due to a conflict of interest involving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
MK Tally Gotliv (Likud) was removed from the courtroom after interrupting the petitioners, and as she was escorted out, she shouted at Amit: “Shame on you.”
Supreme Court President Yitzhak Amit told the petitioners, “We are talking about an IDF major general with no blemish. Your petition is directed at the person himself.”
Deputy President of the Supreme Court Noam Sohlberg told the head of the Movement for Quality Government, Eliad Shraga: “Your petition is made up of 20-30 press clippings, but to call someone a ‘liar’ you need more than a newspaper clipping. It’s not convincing; there is a significant difficulty here.”
Sohlberg made these remarks in response to Shraga’s argument that Zini “lied blatantly” before being appointed head of the Shin Bet, since the decision to select him was made while he was still serving as a major general in the IDF-without informing the Chief of Staff.