Maj. Gen. David Zini, who Prime Minister Benjanmin Nentayahu tapped as the next Shin Bet security agency head, was dismissed from the military on Friday after he held talks with the premier behind the back of the Israel Defense Forces chief of staff.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir was caught off guard by Netanyahu’s Thursday evening announcement to appoint Zini, an active duty general, to head the Shin Bet. Zamir was not consulted prior to the appointment and was notified just minutes before the Prime Minister’s Office made the announcement.

On Friday morning, Zamir met with Zini, the military said.

In a statement, the IDF said that Zamir notified Zini that he would end his service in the military in the coming days. This means that Zini would be dismissed from the IDF, regardless of whether his appointment to head the Shin Bet goes ahead or not.

“The chief of staff expressed appreciation to Maj. Gen. Zini for a significant and long combat service,” the IDF said.

“The chief of staff clarifies that any dialogue between IDF service members and the political echelon must be with the approval of the chief of staff!” the statement added, confirming that the move was done behind his back.

Zini is currently the head of the IDF Training Command and General Staff Corps. Normally, appointing an active duty general to a role outside the military would have required the chief of staff’s input.

Earlier this month, Netanyahu paid a visit to the Tzeelim training base in southern Israel to meet with reservists preparing for a new offensive in the Gaza Strip. Zini and the chief of the Ground Forces, Maj. Gen. Nadav Lotan had accompanied Netanyahu during the visit.

Haaretz reported that during the visit, Zini was called to the prime minister’s car, where the two huddled for over an hour. Later, Netanyahu’s military secretary, Maj. Gen. Roman Gofman joined them, the report said.

Channel 12 news reported that Zini told Zamir on Friday that “I was not interviewed for the job, the prime minister spoke to me during the tour at Tzeelim.”

Netanyahu’s announcement on Thursday came a day after the High Court of Justice issued a ruling that his firing of outgoing Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar was made “improperly” and “unlawfully” and that he had a conflict of interest.

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara then informed Netanyahu on Wednesday that he was barred from appointing a new Shin Bet chief while she worked out the implications of the ruling.

Current Shin Bet head Ronen Bar has said he will step down on June 15 after Netanyahu moved to fire him from the role in a bitter dispute that ended up in the High Court.

On March 16, Netanyahu announced that he intended to fire Bar, and the Shin Bet chief was dismissed by a cabinet vote on March 21 based on Netanyahu’s assertion that he had lost confidence in Bar’s ability to do the job in the wake of the October 7 onslaught.

Government watchdog groups petitioned the High Court against the decision however, alleging that Bar was dismissed due to his defiance of the prime minister on several key issues, not for professional considerations, and that Netanyahu had a conflict of interest due to the Qatargate and leaked document investigations the Shin Bet was conducting into his close aides.

Baharav-Miara responded to the appointment of Zini Thursday evening by lambasting Netanyahu for acting “in contravention of legal instructions.” The attorney general said that there is “heavy concern that he acted while having a conflict of interest, and that the appointments process is flawed.”

Netanyahu’s office on Friday pushed back against the criticism over his decision to name a new Shin Bet head, insisting that Zini would have no role in the ongoing investigation into his staffers’ alleged ties to Qatar.

In late March, Netanyahu announced that former Navy chief Vice Adm. (res.) Eli Sharvit would be the next Shin Bet chief, but then rescinded the appointment just a day later, when Sharvit’s support for protests against the judicial overhaul and public criticism of US President Donald Trump came to light, prompting harsh criticism from the Likud party and other coalition members.

The Shin Bet, subordinate to the Prime Minister’s Office, is tasked with fighting nationalistically motivated terror threats, especially those aimed at harming state security, Israel’s democracy, and state institutions. The security agency deals with terror threats from Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and, oftentimes, in other countries. It also handles threats from both Jewish and Arab citizens of Israel.

Zini’s name came up in media reports several months ago as a potential successor to former IDF chief of staff Lt. Gen. (res.) Herzi Halevi, who resigned over the military’s October 7 failures.

According to the reports, Netanyahu’s wife, Sara, had pushed for the move, despite Zini lacking the relevant experience.

Last year, Netanyahu refused to appoint Zini to become his military secretary, telling confidants after interviewing him that he was “too messianic,” Haaretz reported.

Zini is married and a father of 11 children, and lives in the Golan Heights community of Keshet.

His brother, Shmuel Zini, is reported to be the “right-hand man” of American billionaire Simon Falic, who is close to Netanyahu and his family.

Zini began his service in the military in 1992, serving in the elite Sayeret Matkal unit. After becoming an officer, he moved to serve in the Golani Brigade as a platoon commander, and later commanded a squadron in the Egoz commando unit.

After rising through the ranks, Zini, in 2006, was promoted to lieutenant colonel and was given command over Golani’s 51st Battalion. In 2008, he returned to Egoz to command the unit.

In 2011, Zini took command of the Alexandroni Brigade. During the 2014 Gaza War, Zini temporarily filled in as the commander of the Golani Brigade after the commander at the time was wounded in battle.

Zini briefly served as chief of operations in the Central Command before being appointed in 2015 to establish the Commando Brigade, a unit that brought four of the army’s elite units — Egoz, Rimon, Maglan, and Duvdevan — under one roof. (Rimon has since been shuttered.)

In 2018, Zini was promoted to the rank of brigadier general and was given command over the 340th “Idan” Division, a unit that has since been dissolved. In 2020, he was appointed to be the commander of the Tzeelim training base, where he served until late 2022.

In 2023, Zini was promoted to major general as he entered the role of chief of the Training Command and General Staff Corps. (The latter unit is only activated in wartime, and in reality is rarely used. Zamir has been considering closing it.)

During the October 7, 2023, Hamas onslaught, Zini fought near Kibbutz Mefalsim, killing several Hamas terrorists. Footage (Warning: graphic) from that day showed Zini and a group of soldiers near the Black Arrow memorial site on the border, surrounded by the bodies of dozens of Palestinian terrorists following an intense battle.

Recently, as chief of the Training Command, Zini has been responsible for advancing the draft of Haredi soldiers to the military, including establishing the IDF’s new Hasmonean Brigade for ultra-Orthodox conscripts.

Jeremy Sharon and Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.