Shin Bet chief orders agency to dismantle memorial to staff killed on October 7

David Zini said to give order because employees ‘don’t need to see the debacle in front of our faces every day’; agency confirms removal of display it says ‘minimizes’ the tragedy

Shin Bet chief David Zini has ordered the dismantling of an unofficial memorial established at the entrance to the intelligence agency’s Tel Aviv headquarters for employees killed in the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led terror onslaught.

Zini gave the order after Memorial Day in April, according to the Haaretz newspaper, which first reported the decision. Unnamed sources in the agency told the outlet that Zini felt there was no reason staff should “have to see the debacle [of October 7] in front of our faces every day.”

Another source told the paper that Zini believes the memorial to the fallen Shin Bet agents is a show of “defeatism.”

The informal memorial corner featured photos of the 12 Shin Bet employees killed during the massacre and in its wake, as well as photos of victims whose parents served in the Shin Bet, according to Hebrew media reports.

The Shin Bet confirmed in a statement to Hebrew media that the display had been taken down, saying that Zini felt a memorial to only some of the massacre’s victims didn’t do justice to the scope of the attack. It noted that the office also has a memorial wall featuring all of the attack’s victims, though it did not give further details on what that display includes.

“In the view of the agency’s chief, a display of a portion of the fallen minimizes the debacle and reflects only part of the horrible disaster that impacted us,” the Shin Bet said. “The debacle of October 7 was one of the worst and most painful that the State of Israel has known.”

Zini has made a string of controversial decisions since entering the role in October 2025.

On Tuesday, Channel 12 reported that he had ordered the cancellation of a planned Pride Month event within the agency and took away the budget of the organization’s LGBTQ employee group.

In April, the network reported that shortly after Zini began his tenure, the backgrounds on all computers at the agency were changed from logo of the internal security service to a photo of the Temple Mount. They were changed back to the logo following pushback from employees.

He has also reportedly downplayed Jewish terrorism in the West Bank, and reversed the Shin Bet’s long-held opposition to legislation mandating the death penalty for Palestinian terrorists.

His direct predecessor, Ronen Bar, oversaw the agency during the October 7 attack and its lead-up. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushed Bar out of the role last year after a series of clashes between the two, including over a deal to release hostages then held in Gaza, and amid the Shin Bet’s Qatargate investigation of the premier’s senior aides.

This year, Netanyahu’s office also removed the word “massacre” from a bill establishing an annual state memorial day for the October 7 attack, but restored it to the legislation following backlash.