Anti-Netanyahu protesters clash with Israeli police over plan to sack Shin Bet head

JERUSALEM – Thousands of Israelis joined protests against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as demonstrations against his move to oust the head of the domestic intelligence service flared for a third consecutive day.

The Israeli police deployed a water cannon and made several arrests on March 20 as protests against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s move to oust the head of the domestic intelligence service flared for a third consecutive day, and scuffles broke out in Tel Aviv and near his Jerusalem residence, where protesters attempted to breach security.

Over the past three days, demonstrators protesting against the move to

sack Shin Bet head Ronen Bar have joined forces with protesters

angry at the decision to resume fighting in Gaza, breaking a two-month-old ceasefire, while 59 Israeli hostages remain in the Palestinian enclave.

“We’re very, very worried that our country is becoming a dictatorship,” Ms Rinat Hadashi, 59, said in Jerusalem. “They’re abandoning our hostages. They’re neglecting all the important things for this country.”

The police and demonstrators clashed as hundreds marched along the road leading to the Prime Minister’s official residence in Jerusalem, where the police said dozens of protesters tried to break through security cordons.

Mr Netanyahu said this week he had lost confidence in Mr Bar, who has led Shin Bet since 2021, and intended to dismiss him.

The decision followed months of tension between the two over a corruption investigation into allegations that a number of aides in Mr Netanyahu’s office were offered bribes by figures connected with Qatar.

Mr Netanyahu has dismissed the accusation as a politically motivated attempt to unseat him but his critics have accused him of undermining the institutions underpinning Israel’s democracy by seeking Mr Bar’s removal.

In a letter to the government that was distributed by Shin Bet as ministers met to formally approve his dismissal, Mr Bar said the decision was founded on “baseless claims that are nothing more than a disguise for completely different, extraneous and fundamentally unacceptable motives”.

He has already announced that he intended to step down early to take responsibility for the intelligence failures that allowed the attack on Israel on Oct 7, 2023, to take place.

Deep divisions

The angry scenes on March 20 highlighted divisions that have deepened since Mr Netanyahu returned to power as head of a right-wing coalition at the end of 2022.

Even before the war in Gaza, tens of thousands of Israelis were joining regular demonstrations protesting at a government drive to curb the power of the judiciary that critics saw as an assault on Israeli democracy but which the government said was needed to limit judicial overreach.

On March 20, Mr Yair Golan, a former deputy Chief of Staff in the military who now leads the opposition Democrats party, was pushed to the ground during a scuffle, drawing condemnation and calls for an investigation by other opposition politicians.

Former Defence Minister Benny Gantz said the clashes were a direct result of divisions caused by “an extremist government that has lost its grip”.

In Tel Aviv, demonstrators rallied outside the Kirya military headquarters complex as ministers met to formally approve the dismissal of Mr Bar.

Since the start of the war, there have also been regular protests by families and supporters of hostages seized by Hamas during its

assault on Israel from Gaza on Oct 7, 2023,

that have sometimes echoed the criticisms of the government.

Israel’s Cabinet is expected to meet on March 21 to formally approve the dismissal of Mr Bar, who has clashed with Mr Netanyahu over a corruption investigation against aides in his office that the Prime Minister has called a politically motivated attack.

“This is not an outcome the Israeli people can accept,” The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, a group representing hostage families, said in a statement. REUTERS