Israel’s Netanyahu picks new security chief, defying legal challenge

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu picked former navy commander Eli Sharvit to head the domestic security agency, his office said Monday, despite the supreme court freezing the incumbent’s dismissal.

Netanyahu moved to oust current Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar on March 21, after citing an “ongoing lack of trust” in the head of the agency.

But after petitions filed by Israel’s opposition and a non-governmental organisation, the supreme court suspended the dismissal of Bar, whose relationship…