Shin Bet won’t provide Eisenkot with security detail, despite earlier report to contrary

Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar party said Tuesday that the Shin Bet had informed it that the security agency would not provide the former IDF chief with a state security detail, contradicting a report earlier this week that the agency had reversed course and would protect him.

In a statement, the Shin Bet said it had instead approved a series of measures applying to party leaders, including providing their teams with relevant intelligence and allowing privately hired security guards to carry weapons if requested.

The agency said security arrangements would be reassessed periodically and adjusted according to the threat level facing each political leader.

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Eisenkot’s staff has repeatedly urged the Shin Bet to provide him with protection, citing what it says are growing threats against him both online and in public as the October 27 election approaches.

Eisenkot, who served as IDF chief of staff from 2015 to 2019 and later entered politics, formally launched Yashar’s election campaign in June. His Yashar party has led most recent opinion polls ahead of the vote.

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The Shin Bet decision contradicted a Sunday report by Kan public broadcaster that agency chief David Zini had agreed to provide Eisenkot with security coverage after previously rejecting requests to do so.

Kan reported that the precise arrangements would be finalized within several days. At the time, however, the Shin Bet did not publicly confirm that a decision had been made to provide Eisenkot a security detail.

Tuesday’s decision also came despite a recommendation last month by the Advisory Committee for Personal Security, which operates under the Prime Minister’s Office, that the Shin Bet provide Eisenkot with protection through the election.

The committee issued its recommendation after the Shin Bet declined to assign armed guards to Eisenkot, saying it did not possess intelligence indicating a threat that justified such protection. Eisenkot’s campaign maintained that the threat against him was increasing as campaigning intensified.

Eisenkot’s campaign hired private, unarmed bodyguards, but argued that they were insufficient given his frequent appearances at public events whose times and locations are often announced in advance.

Channel 12 subsequently reported that the Shin Bet had authorized Eisenkot’s privately hired guards to carry weapons, while continuing to refuse to provide an agency security detail. Under that arrangement, the Shin Bet also agreed to provide his team with relevant intelligence and a direct channel of communication with the security service.

The security dispute has also extended to Democrats leader Yair Golan, a former deputy IDF chief of staff. The Democrats have sought Shin Bet protection for Golan over alleged threats against him, including social media posts calling for him to be shot or hanged.

On Tuesday, the party petitioned the High Court of Justice to order the Shin Bet to provide Golan with protection, saying police had assessed his threat level at four out of six — the same level assigned to Eisenkot. Neither man is currently a Knesset member, meaning neither automatically receives the state-funded security afforded to certain serving officials.

Channel 12 reported Tuesday that Golan’s security team had recently become concerned ahead of a planned public appearance in Beersheba after monitoring Telegram channels and other social media accounts, as it routinely does before events. According to the report, the team concluded that the gathering could pose a security risk and had to devise an evacuation route for Golan while taking steps to keep his whereabouts from the public and halt the event to prevent a possible incident.

The network noted that Golan’s private security guards are not currently armed.

Concerns over candidate security have also been highlighted by incidents on the campaign trail. On Friday, the Tel Aviv District Court ordered that Eliya Azard, a Bnei Brak resident, remain in custody after he was arrested a day earlier on suspicion of throwing two salt shakers toward former prime minister and B’Yachad leader Naftali Bennett during a campaign stop in the city.

תיעוד השלכת החפץ על בנט במסעדה בבני ברק אמש. החשוד, בן 26, לא שיתף פעולה בחקירה והובא הבוקר לבית משפט@uri_sela (צילום: סעיף 27א לחוק זכויות היוצרים) pic.twitter.com/ysAKkqpKd6

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) September 25, 2026

Bennett was filming an installment of his “Parliament” social media series at a restaurant when a group of far-right activists arrived and disrupted the event.

Footage showed the salt shakers being thrown toward Bennett as he spoke with young Haredi voters, with one of his staff members injured and treated at the scene.

Bennett was later escorted from the restaurant by police and his security detail.

הפרגוד: בנט חולץ ממסעדת מוטיס' בבני ברק לאחר שקיצונים הגיעו למקום ואיימו לפגוע בו pic.twitter.com/s8TPIGURh6

— הפרגוד (@moshepargod) September 24, 2026

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