Can You Lead the Shin Bet If You Once Said: ‘There’s No Replacement for Hamas in Gaza’?

This week, reports surfaced that Maj. Gen. (res.) Sami Turgeman, the former head of the IDF’s Southern Command, had been considered for the top job at the Shin Bet. Although the Prime Minister’s Office was quick to issue a denial and Turgeman himself reportedly declined the role, the very mention of his name revived a controversial quote that may have all but ruled him out.

Back in May 2015 — less than a year after Operation Protective Edge — Turgeman met with local council heads from communities surrounding Gaza. His message? Clear and startling: "There is no alternative to Hamas as the sovereign in the Gaza Strip."

A Sovereign You Can Count On?

According to multiple accounts from that meeting, Turgeman told the council heads that, like it or not, Hamas was the only governing body in Gaza capable of exercising control.

“Hamas currently has no replacement as the ruling authority in the Strip,” he said. “The alternative is the IDF and total governmental chaos. The Palestinian Authority cannot govern there.”

Turgeman acknowledged the tension in this view — and went further. “Inside Gaza, there is a sovereign — and it’s Hamas,” he said. “They know how to govern. Most residents of Gaza turn to Hamas as the address for their problems. And we want there to be an address — because the alternative is a security nightmare.”

At the time, his remarks were seen by some as pragmatic military analysis. Others interpreted them as dangerously soft on Hamas — even tantamount to legitimizing a terrorist regime. Nearly a decade later, and especially after the atrocities of October 7, such a position is not merely unfashionable. It’s explosive.

Supporters argue that Turgeman’s 2015 comments were grounded in reality: recognizing that in the absence of any functioning alternative, total collapse could invite an even worse threat — like ISIS-style chaos in Gaza, as seen in Syria, Iraq, and Sinai. “We’ve seen what happens when there’s no clear authority,” he said at the time. “That vacuum breeds disaster.”

But critics — particularly in today’s climate — see things differently. For them, anyone who once suggested that Hamas should remain in power has forfeited the right to head Israel’s elite security service.