Netanyahu moves to dismiss chief of Israel’s internal security agency

JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on March 16 that he was seeking to dismiss the head of Israel’s internal security agency, who swiftly called the move political and said the Premier expected “personal loyalty”.

Mr Netanyahu and Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar have been engaged in a public spat in recent weeks over reforms to the agency, which has been accused of failing to prevent the

Oct 7, 2023, Hamas attack

that triggered war in Gaza.

At the same time, Shin Bet has been conducting an investigation into some of Mr Netanyahu’s aides for allegedly receiving payments from Qatar, even as the Gaza war raged, according to Israeli media reports.

“Due to ongoing lack of trust, I have decided to bring a proposal to the government to end the tenure of the Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar,” Mr Netanyahu said in a video statement.

Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara, a critic of Mr Netanyahu, said the Prime Minister’s move is “unprecedented” and its legality needs to be assessed.

In a letter to Mr Netanyahu, she said he cannot initiate the process “until the factual and legal foundation of your decision is fully clarified, and until the possibility of addressing the issue at this time is determined”.

Mr Netanyahu, in his statement, said “there must be complete trust between the prime minister and the head of the Shin Bet”, given that Israel is at war.

“I have had a persistent lack of confidence in the head of the Shin Bet, a distrust that has only grown over time.”

He said Mr Bar’s dismissal “is necessary to restore the organisation, achieve all our war objectives, and prevent the next disaster”.

Mr Netanyahu has previously accused Mr Bar of being behind what he called “part of an ongoing campaign of threats and media leaks” aimed at preventing him “from making the necessary decisions to restore the Shin Bet after its devastating failure on Oct 7”.

‘Personal loyalty’

Following Mr Netanyahu’s announcement, Mr Bar said he did not believe the Israeli leader’s decision was related to the failures on Oct 7, suggesting instead that the motive was political.

“I took responsibility for the agency’s part (in failing to prevent the attack)... it is clear that the intent behind my dismissal is not related to Oct 7,” said Mr Bar, whose term is due to expire in October 2026.

“The Prime Minister’s expectation of a personal loyalty that contradicts the public interest is an entirely improper expectation” that goes against the agency’s ethics, he added.

Mr Bar has led Shin Bet since 2021, but his relations with Mr Netanyahu were strained even before the Hamas attack, notably over proposed judicial reforms that had split the country.

Relations worsened after the March 4 release of an internal Shin Bet report on the Hamas attack.

It acknowledged the agency’s own failure in preventing the attack, but also said “a policy of quiet had enabled Hamas to undergo massive military build-up”.

The attack resulted in 1,218 deaths on the Israeli side, mostly civilians. Israel’s retaliatory response in Gaza has killed at least 48,572 people, also mostly civilians, according to data from both sides.

In his statement on March 16, Mr Bar repeated previous comments that a broader probe is necessary to understand the failure to stop the attack.

Mr Bar emphasised the need to “investigate all parties, including the government’s policy and the Prime Minister, not just the IDF (Israel Defence Forces) and the Shin Bet”.

Mr Bar’s responsibilities appear to have been curtailed already.

Media reports say he was excluded from a recent security Cabinet meeting and also the Israeli negotiating delegation, which is being led by Mr Bar’s deputy, known only as “M”.

Mr Bar had been involved in previous sessions of indirect negotiations with Hamas, including those that led to the current fragile ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

Israel’s main opposition leader and former prime minister Yair Lapid, whose government appointed Mr Bar, said his political party, Yesh Atid, would file a legal petition with the Supreme Court to appeal against Mr Netanyahu’s decision.

Mr Lapid said on social media platform X that the move to remove Mr Bar was to “sabotage a serious criminal investigation into the Prime Minister’s Office”. AFP