After months of speculation, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin has selected the new head of Shin Bet, Israel’s domestic intelligence agency.
The new leader of Shin Bet — who was identified only as “K.” in keeping with a prohibition against publishing the identity of the head of the security service — will replace the outgoing security chief March 1.
According to Israeli news accounts, the new head is in his early 40s, was born in Jerusalem and is the son of a judge. He is also an expert in Jewish extremism.
He joined Shin Bet in the 1970s as an embassy security officer and ascended through the ranks in a variety of posts in the West Bank.
Right-wing extremists have opposed his appointment, saying he will direct his efforts against them instead of against militant Palestinians.
Baruch Marzel, the former leader of the militantly anti-Arab group Kach, said he and other former Kach activists planned to petition the High Court of Justice against the appointment.
But Marzel said Kach, an illegal movement in Israel, had nothing to do with the circulation over the last few weeks of leaflets that contained detailed personal information about the new Shin Bet Chief.
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