Who is David Zini, Netanyahu's 'messianic' pick to head Shin Bet?

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared this week that he would press ahead in appointing a new head of the country's domestic intelligence agency Shin Bet in defiance of the Supreme Court.

In a statement Thursday, Netanyahu's office announced that Major General David Zini would be handed the position, replacing Ronen Bar who was dismissed in March amid a bitter feud with the prime minister.

Born into a religious Zionist family in 1974, David Zini has been a member of the Israeli military for more than three decades. Most of his career has been spent rising through the ranks of the Golani Brigade, a military formation notorious for alleged human rights abuses in the occupied territories and in Lebanon. Golani troops most recently made headlines in April when they were implicated in the massacre of 15 Palestinian medics and aid workers in Rafah.

Zini has served as a commander in several of Golani's formations, including the 12th Battalion, the 51st Battalion, and its special ops unit Egoz. In 2015 he was chosen to set up and lead the Commando Brigade before being promoted to brigadier general and appointed head of the Idan Armoured Division three years later.

He has headed the Training Command and is the commander of the General Staff Corps since mid-2023 when he was promoted to major general.

The decision to appoint Zini to lead Shin Bet represents a change in thinking by the Israeli prime minister, who previously said he was "too messianic" when his wife Sara recommended Zini serve as his military secretary, according to Haaretz.

Zini's ties to the Israeli far-right originate from his father Rabbi Yosef Zini, who is a member of the extreme right-wing, anti-LGBT Noam party. Noam is aligned with national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir's Jewish Power party, though has reportedly refused to fight elections alongside it due to Jewish Power's listing of secular and women candidates.

He also has ties to Jewish racial supremacists through his children. Zini's daughter is married to the son of Eliezer Kashtiel, an extremist rabbi who is on record calling for the enslavement of Arabs and espousing the genetic supremacy of Jews.

Though there's little in the public record about Zini's direct ties to Netanyahu, members of his family are close to people in his inner circle. His brother, Shmuel Zini, is a confidante of Israeli-American billionaire Simon Falic, who is known to a close friend of Netanyahu and a major campaign donor. Falic, who lives in Miami, has previously hosted Netanyahu's son and his wife, Sara, and is known for funding illegal settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. 

Zini has expressed alignment with the Netanyahu government's ambitions in Gaza in private meetings, according to Israeli news media. He is known to be firmly against any negotiations with Hamas to release the remaining Israeli captives and described Israel's assault on Gaza as an "eternal war".