Bar announced his resignation in April after the government moved to oust him. Prime Minister Benjamin is seeking to appoint Maj.-Gen. David Zini, which has been held up by legal appeals. It isn’t clear how long S. will lead the Shin Bet.

S., 53, is a married father of three and a veteran of the Golani Brigade. He joined the Shin Bet in 1995, focusing on counterterrorism in eastern Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria, and later training field agents. Between 2010 and 2012, he led the agency’s cyber and signal intelligence unit, followed by a term as bureau chief to Shin Bet director Yoram Cohen. He headed the analysis division from 2014 to 2016 and spent a year on academic sabbatical.

From 2017 to 2019, S. led counterterror operations in Samaria, then directed counter-espionage efforts until 2021. He was responsible for force development and strategic planning from 2022 to 2024. As of January 2025, “S” serves as the deputy director of the Shin Bet.

Netanyahu and Bar have been blaming each other over what was known before Hamas’ October 7 attack and whether it could have been prevented, as well as the “Qatargate” scandal. Bar claims that Netanyahu’s decision to dismiss him was influenced by a conflict of interest related to the ongoing investigation. The government argues that Bar should have resigned after the agency completed its internal investigation in March.

The Shin Bet, Israel’s domestic intelligence service, is responsible for counterterrorism, counterintelligence, internal security, VIP protection, and cybersecurity. The only Shin Bet director to ever leave before the end of his five-year term was Carmi Gillon, who resigned in the aftermath of the 1995 assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.

In recent months, the Shin Bet has disrupted numerous attempts by Iranian intelligence agents to recruit Israeli citizens for intelligence gathering and acts of sabotage — including a 13-year-old boy who was asked to photograph an Iron Dome battery.

Israel launched preemptive strikes against Iranian nuclear sites on Friday, citing intelligence that Tehran had reached “a point of no return” in its pursuit of nuclear weapons. According to Israeli defense officials, Iran has developed the capacity to rapidly enrich uranium and assemble nuclear bombs, with sufficient fissile material for up to 15 weapons.

Israeli intelligence also exposed a covert program to complete all components of a nuclear device. The strikes mark a dramatic escalation in what officials describe as a broader Iranian strategy combining nuclear development, missile proliferation, and proxy warfare aimed at Israel’s destruction.

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