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Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that he would remove his internal spy chief, one of the last security officials still in the post since the Hamas attack on October 7, in a determined action to deepen a crisis between the Prime Minister of Israel and the country’s legal authorities.
Netanyahu informed Ronen Bar, head of the Intelligence Agency Shin Bet, in a tense meeting that he was removing him from the post, conditioned in a government decision later during the week.
In a recorded video statement, the prime minister said he had “constant lack of confidence” in the bar that “grew up only with time”.
“I am convinced that this step is essential to restoring the organization, achieving all our objectives of war and preventing the other tragedy,” Netanyahu added, an allusion to the role of shin bet on the massive intelligence failure that led to Hamas attack on October 7, 2023 in the south of Israel.
But the target dismissal of Bari is likely to further deepen the divisions between Netanyahu and the country’s senior legal officials.
Prosecutor General Gali Baharav-Miara said in a statement Sunday to Netanyahu that he could not light the bar “until the factual and legal basis underlying your decision and your ability to deal with this issue be clarified.”
Tensions between Netanyahu and Bar have increased in recent weeks due to the investigation of the Agency for the alleged lobbying work previously undertaken by the Prime Minister’s office on behalf of Qatar.
Netanyahu also recently removed both the bar and the head of the Israeli foreign spy agency Mossad, David Barnea, from the tasked team to negotiate a ceasefire-Hostage agreement with Hamas in Gaza, claiming they were taking a soft line in the talks and issuing unclear details.
Netanyahu has tried to deviate the blame for the surprise attack by Palestinian militants for his security bosses.
The Minister of Defense at the time, Yoav Gallant, was dismissed last November, while military chief Herzi Halevi was forced to leave earlier this month.
Both officials, as well as the bar, publicly took responsibility for their roles in the worst failure of security in the country’s history and declared their intention to give up when time was appropriate.
Netanyahu, for his part, for more than 17 months has not refused to have any fault, resign or set a date for new elections.
In a later protected statement Sunday, Bar said his public duty urged him to “continue in my position in the near future” due to the possibility of renewed hostilities in Gaza, continued hostages talks and the need to “complete a number of sensitive investigations”.
He also blamed the October 7 attack at the foot of the Netanyahu government, which, according to Bari, decided on Hamas in Gaza for years before the attack and disrespect for Shin Bet warnings.
“The task of trusting the chief of Shin Bet is first and foremost for the citizens of Israel.. Prime Minister’s reception for a personal task of faith whose purpose opposes the public interest is a fundamentally wrong,” Bar added.
The government ministers praised the prime minister’s movement, calling it late, while opposition politicians clashed it as undemocratic and illegal.
“Netanyahu fired Ronen Bar for only one reason: ‘Qatar-Gate’ investigation.. Netanyahu has once again set his private interests on the good of the country and his security,” wrote Yair Lapid, leader of the opposition, on the social media platform X, adding that he would seek the supreme court to overthrow the grass.
Netanyahu’s cabinet this month began official procedures to light Baharav-Miara himself, and have already shown that they do not recognize the authority of the newly appointed Supreme Court and his bench to adjudicate constitutional matters.
In the wake of the Hamas attack, where the militants killed 1,200 people and received 250 hostages, Israel had seen nine months of protest in Mass Street on Netanyahu’s plan to fix the country’s judicial institutions.
Reform critics called it a capture of power by the executive branch that would undermine the authority of courts and legal officials.
