Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he is planning to fire the head of Shin Bet – the country’s domestic intelligence agency.
Mr Netanyahu informed Ronen Bar during an urgent meeting on Sunday and announced the intention, to immediate criticism from opposition politicians.
“At all times, but especially during an existential war such as the one we face, there must be full trust between the prime minister and head of the Shin Bet,” Mr Netanyahu said in a video statement.
“Unfortunately, the situation is the opposite. I do not have such trust. I have ongoing distrust in the head of the Shin Bet, a distrust that has grown over time.”
Ronen Bar. File Pic: Reuters
The move will be voted on at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday.
Allies of Mr Netanyahu have welcomed it, but the attorney general has said it cannot happen until the “factual and legal basis” for the move is fully examined.
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It would be the first time a head of Shin Bet has been sacked in Israel’s history.
Mr Bar, who has headed the agency since 2021, was until recently one of the senior negotiators for Israel with mediators in Egypt and Qatar.
He was replaced by Ron Dermer, strategic affairs minister and a close confidante of the prime minister’s, because Mr Netanyahu believed he was too soft in negotiations and leaked information to embarrass the government.
Mr Bar accepted responsibility for his failure to prevent the 7 October 2023 attacks and had already indicated he would step down once all the hostages were freed and a number of sensitive investigations were completed.
One of those investigations is believed to be claims that close advisors of Mr Netanyahu were taking money to lobby on behalf of Qatar.
Critics of Mr Netanyahu accuse him of avoiding responsibility for 7 October, pointing out that the heads of the intelligence agencies and military have all accepted a share of the blame, but the prime minister continues to avoid it.
Yoav Gallant was sacked as defence minister last November and the IDF chief of staff Herzi Halevi recently left his post – both apologised for the worst breach of security in the country’s history.
“For a year and a half he (Mr Netanyahu) saw no reason to fire him, but only when the investigation into Qatar’s infiltration of Netanyahu’s office and the funds transferred to his closest aids began did he suddenly feel an urgent need to fire him immediately,” the opposition leader Yair Lapid wrote on X.
“The firing of the head of the Shin Bet is a direct violation of the state’s security and dismantling of unity in Israeli society for political and personal reasons,” said Benny Gantz, a former member of the war cabinet.
