Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that he was taking measures to oust the director of Shin Bet, the domestic intelligence agency of Israel, raising concerns among the criticisms he sought to undermine his independence.
The efforts of Mr. Netanyahu to dismiss Ronen Bar, the head of the powerful agency, underlined long -standing tensions between the Prime Minister and the main members of the Israeli security establishment, who clashed on the treatment of war in Gaza.
The decision to continue the dismissal of Mr. Bar also came in the wake of Shin Bet investigations on allegations against several collaborators in Netanyahu, in particular that a secret document would have been disclosed to a foreign newspaper.
The Prime Minister’s office said Netanyahu had informed Mr. Bar that a draft resolution for his evidence would be presented to the Israeli cabinet this week for approval.
But in a letter, Gali Baharav-Miara, the Attorney General, said that Mr. Netanyahu was not even authorized to start the process until a determination was taken on the legality of the end of Mr. Bar. She said it would be a conflict of interest for Mr. Netanyahu.
The members of Mr. Netanyahu’s coalition demanded that the Prime Minister Fire Mr. Bar for what they say to be his slimming of the Prime Minister. They also called for dismissing Ms. Baharav-Miara, who has long had a tense relationship with Mr. Netanyahu.
Any decision to withdraw Mr. Bar, who has run the agency since 2021, would also likely be on appeal before the Supreme Court.
In a recorded video message published on social networks, Netanyahu said that dismissal was necessary because he did not trust Mr. Bar.
“At any time-especially during an existential war like this-there must be complete confidence between the Prime Minister and the director of the Shin Bet,” he said.
Mr. Bar retaliated with a strongly written public declaration, claiming that Mr. Netanyahu’s expectation of “personal confidence” opposed the interests of the public.
“It is a fundamentally imperfect expectation which is in violation of the law and the state of Shin Bet,” he said in a rare public press release.
Mr. Bar said that he had previously told Mr. Netanyahu that he planned to stay in his post until the return of all the hostages held in Gaza and the completion of a certain number of sensitive surveys. He also said that he wanted to finish preparing two people whom he described as candidates to succeed him.
The decision to put an end to Mr. Bar followed the dismissal in recent months of two other security leaders who often disagreed with the Prime Minister: the Minister of Defense and the Chief of the Israeli Army.
The former members of the Shin Bet raised concerns about the possibility that Mr. Netanyahu notes a successor to Mr. Bar on the basis of political considerations.
“Israeli democracy is on an intensive course,” said Ami Ayalon, former shin chief. If the Prime Minister manages to oust Mr. Bar, it would be “another step towards the transformation of Israel into a state that favors personal loyalty to the leader above all,” he said.
This month, the SHIN ParIé made public a summary of its investigation into agency failures before and during the attack led by Hamas in October 2023 which criticized both the government of Mr. Netanyahu and the agency. Although the summary recognized that BET Shin had not warned the attack, he said that he had warned that Hamas had not been dissuaded during the previous months and had recommended taking action against the militant group.
The report also indicates that the Shin informed the government that political divisions in Israel had embarked on its adversaries, putting the country in a vulnerable position. This observation was largely considered to pointing a finger on the government of Mr. Netanyahu, who had pushed a controversial judicial overhaul which divided the Israeli public.
