The picture, name, and address of the incoming head of the Shin Bet were published by a Hamas-affiliated website along with the phrase "wanted" on Sunday evening after violent clashes took place between Israeli forces and Palestinians in the West Bank early Sunday morning.
It is illegal in Israel to publish the name until the incoming head is approved by a committee, but a source told KAN news that because the individual is widely known in Israel's security sector and because his picture was taken at a public event, there is no cause for concern.
Palestinian media reported that the incoming official's information and pictures were leaked by the "Palestinian resistance," with a source who reportedly leaked the information warning that he is "monitored by us in the resistance, he is on the wanted list and the arms of the resistance will pursue him."
Earlier this month, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett nominated the Shin Bet’s current deputy chief, known as R., to succeed current director Nadav Argaman as the next head of the Israel Security Agency as of October 13.
R. is 55, married, and has three children. He has a university degree in political science and philosophy from Tel Aviv University and a master’s degree in public management from Harvard University. R. served in the IDF's General Staff Reconnaissance Unit.
In 2011, R. was appointed head of the Shin Bet’s operations. Then, in 2016, he was promoted to be the head of Shin Bet headquarters, the No. 3 post, responsible for force buildup. In 2018, he replaced another R. as deputy chief of the agency.
Two IDF soldiers were injured and five Palestinians were killed by IDF troops after armed clashes broke out between Palestinians and Israeli security forces during a wave of anti-Hamas operations across the West Bank.
The wave of arrests in five different locations in the West Bank targeted a Hamas cell that Israeli security forces had been tracking for several days and was planning an attack. The raids were led by the Duvdevan counter-terrorism unit as well as the Israel Police and Border Police YAMAM and YAMAS counter-terrorism units and the Shin Bet security services.
Anna Ahronheim and Yonah Jeremy Bob contributed to this report.