Israel Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai publicly claimed that Shin Bet Director Ronen Zini took credit for his own intelligence assessment warning of a possible October 7-style attack in Eilat, according to his statement. Shabtai asserted he was the one who originally warned about the threat, escalating an internal security establishment dispute.
Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai launched a public attack on Shin Bet Director Ronen Zini on Thursday, accusing him of appropriating an intelligence assessment Shabtai had originally warned about. In his statement, Shabtai claimed he was the one who had flagged the threat of a potential October 7-style attack targeting the southern port city of Eilat — not Zini, whose earlier warnings had drawn internal security establishment pushback. This escalates an already tense behind-the-scenes dispute that emerged after Zini's closed-door briefings on the Houthi threat to Eilat drew public attention and subsequent pushback from other security officials.
The Zioneer previously reported (June 23) on Zini's warning and the dispute over its intelligence basis. As The Zioneer noted, a senior security source disputed Zini's assessment, and the Shin Bet later clarified there was no concrete threat information. Shabtai's direct challenge shifts the dispute from anonymous backchanneling to an on-record confrontation between the two most senior domestic security chiefs.
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