The Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) denied Monday evening a report claiming that Shin Bet Director David Zini had removed the agency’s gender equality officer from her position. The Shin Bet clarified that the official had not been removed and that Zini had even spoken with her following the report.
According to a Channel 13 News report, the decision to remove the official was made following her public opposition to a letter sent by Naomi Zini, the Shin Bet director’s wife, to the wives of agency employees ahead of Passover. In the letter, Zini referred to “the strength of women who know how to adhere to what is good and to what will bring additional blessing."
The letter further stated that these strengths and abilities “put our homes and our people back on their feet in their revival after 2,000 years of exile, toward a great destiny whose realization we are only beginning." The gender equality officer criticized both the content of the remarks and the decision to address the letter specifically to the wives of employees.
Following Monday evening’s report, the Shin Bet stated: “In light of the report this evening, we emphasize that the official responsible for gender equality in the service was not removed from her position. Moreover, the Shin Bet director spoke with her this evening following the false report and clarified that no such thing ever happened."
The report, however, quoted Shin Bet officials who claimed that the senior official was due to conclude her tenure as gender equality officer in several months. Those officials alleged that “the primary reason for her removal was her attack on the letter written by Zini’s wife."
It was further reported that the senior official is expected to remain in the Shin Bet in her primary position, which is separate from her role as gender equality officer. These claims contradict the Shin Bet’s official denial, according to which she was not removed from the position at all.
At the time the letter was circulated, the gender equality officer also criticized what she said were its implications for the LGBTQ community within the organization, which she said receives ideological and material support from the Shin Bet.
“Although the organization still has a way to go regarding gender equality, the value of equality is always before our eyes and must not be harmed," she wrote.
The official added at the time that it would have been appropriate to distribute a letter addressed inclusively to all family members of Shin Bet employees. She said it was inappropriate to circulate a letter defining gender roles that she described as outdated.