Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced today that he has dropped the idea of appointing Eli Sharvit as the new director of the Internal Security Agency (Shin Bet) after criticism of his candidate by influential US Senator Lindsey Graham.
The Israeli Prime Minister's Office announced that Netanyahu thanked Vice Admiral Eli Sharvit for responding to his invitation to accept the position, but informed him that after further consideration, he intends to consider other candidates.
This sudden change came after Admiral Sharvit's nomination to lead the Shin Bet was criticized in the US by Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, close to US President Donald Trump.
Graham said that if it is true that America has no better friend than Israel, the nomination of Eli Sharvit as the new head of the Shin Bet is more than problematic.
"My advice to my Israeli friends is to change their stance and study their candidate's past in more detail," Graham said, pointing to Admiral Sharvit's statements about President Trump and his policies, which, as he assessed, "will create unnecessary tensions at a critical time."
Netanyahu announced the nomination of Eli Sharvit as Shin Bet chief on Monday, even though the country's Supreme Court has frozen the dismissal of the agency's acting chief, Ronen Bar.
Netanyahu's decision to dismiss Barak, in whom he said he no longer had confidence, has been heavily criticized in Israel, where protests against the government are increasing, and against what the prime minister's opponents see as the prime minister's dictatorial behavior.
Bonus video:
