Shin Bet Survivor: Who will replace Ronen Bar?

With the news that Ronen Bar is set to be dismissed as head of the Shin Bet this week, Army Radio reporter Doron Kadosh said that there are three main candidates to replace him at the head of the battered internal security organization.

According to Kadosh, there are Two possible candidates to succeed Shin Bet head Ronen Bar: his current deputy, S. or his previous deputy, M.

S., the current deputy head of the Shin Bet, has been in the position for only about two months. Previously, he was the head of the Staff Division for three years, responsible for force building in the organization. Before that, S. rose as an intelligence coordinator in the Arab sector, head of the Research Division, head of the Counter-Terrorism Division in Samaria, and head of the Counter-Espionage Division.

M., the previous deputy head of the Shin Bet, served in the position for about three years, a term that was extended several times since the beginning of the war at the request of the Prime Minister and the Shin Bet head. In recent weeks, Netanyahu appointed him to the negotiating team for the return of the hostages, after dismissing Shin Bet head Bar from the team. As deputy head of the Shin Bet, M. was responsible in recent years for the issue of force deployment in the organization - so his responsibility and role in the October 7 failure needs to be investigated. M. was previously head of the West Bank and Jerusalem region, and also rose as an intelligence coordinator. M. is also a bereaved brother.

What they have in common: Both are Arabists who rose through the field track as coordinators, not through the operational track like the last two Shin Bet heads, Ronen Bar and Nadav Argaman.

A third (and likely, in light of the appointment of an outsider as a replacement IDF Chief of Staff - A.W.) possibility: Netanyahu will choose a Shin Bet head from outside the organization's ranks, or another person who previously served as a senior official in the Shin Bet. In the past, the name of Meir Ben-Shabbat, Netanyahu's associate who was head of the Southern Region in the Shin Bet and head of the National Security Council, has been mentioned. The name of Major General Amir Baram, the previous Deputy Chief of Staff, has also been mentioned in the past as a possible candidate for the position.