President Yitzchak Herzog used a speech Wednesday evening to respond to the storm surrounding Shin Bet chief David Zini, declaring that Israel’s security and law enforcement bodies “are not loyal to a person or to one camp or another, but to the sovereign — which is the people, to Israel’s body of law, and to the values of the Jewish and democratic state.”

Speaking at the graduation ceremony of the National Security College, Herzog said that “in the face of the polarization spreading through society, we must cling to statesmanship.” He added that the institutions of the state, its laws and its directives, “belong to everyone and serve everyone.” Herzog also stressed that Israel rests on the commitment, in the words of the Declaration of Independence, to “complete equality of social and political rights for all its citizens, without distinction of religion, race or sex.” He said that universal and Jewish moral values, safeguarding human dignity and human rights, adherence to the international laws of war to which Israel is committed, and preserving law and justice “are the path.”

Herzog’s remarks came a day after Zini touched off a political storm when he said he agreed to take the job because he believed he was better than others at being loyal to the elected leadership, regardless of his own political views. “On this issue I felt I was very qualified, more than many others,” Zini said. “I have an agenda. I want to advance it. That is my responsibility. That is my role.”

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir quickly responded with a sharp statement attacking Herzog.

“Mr. President, the Labor Party has already closed. There is no need to continue leading it from the President’s Residence,” Ben Gvir said. “You defended Ronen Bar, yet you attack David Zini. The time has come for you to stop deepening divisions and serving as the mouthpiece of one side, and to start being the president of all the people of Israel. When it came to honoring ‘Brothers in Arms’ refusers, you acted quickly, but when it comes to justice and pardoning the prime minister, suddenly you have all the time in the world. Embarrassing and divisive.”

Also speaking at the ceremony was IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, who reflected on the lessons of the war and said that October 7 and the 1,000 days of fighting since then are not only a wound but also the army’s operational compass. He said the war must remain a source of lessons, growth and improvement, while pushing back against what he called the “background noise and manipulations” of social media and public commentary.

Despite that noise, Zamir said, there is one “truth carved in stone” — that the IDF has achieved unprecedented operational successes on every front in which it has fought, struck the enemy hard, removed existential threats, and improved Israel’s security position. He added that even if a new phase opens, the campaign is continuing in a different form, with the IDF implementing a new security concept focused on striking the enemy, removing threats in advance, and creating demilitarized zones along Israel’s borders inside enemy territory.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)