Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Wednesday officially instated Ronen Bar as the new head of the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet), replacing Nadav Argaman.
“This is a special moment—the passing of the demanding responsibility from one director to another,” Bennett said at the ceremony, held at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem.
“We face a huge terror machine that does not rest,” said Bennett. “We must always be one step ahead of [it]. … Allowing the enemy to build up its strength and the terrorist organizations to become terrorist states, with armies and thousands of missiles, is not an option,” he added.
Bar, 55, served in the IDF as a member of the elite General Staff Reconnaissance Unit and was later recruited to the Shin Bet, where he served in an operational capacity.
In 2011, he was appointed head of the agency’s Operations Branch, and in 2016, he took over the responsibility of the Shin Bet’s staff branch. In 2018, he was appointed deputy director of the agency.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and philosophy from Tel Aviv University and a master’s degree in public management from Harvard University. He is married with three children.