Netanyahu moves to dismiss head of Shin Bet over lack of ‘trust’

The government will be able to elect the head of the Shin Bet domestic security service, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The prime minister said he has had “ongoing distrust” of Ronen Bar and that trust in the domestic security service’s head is crucial in a time of war in a statement from Netanyahu’s office on Sunday.

A special cabinet meeting on Wednesday is scheduled for the Shin Bet chief’s dismissal, according to Israeli media.

However, Bar claimed in a statement that while he took responsibility for Hamas’ attack on October 7th, 2023, it was “clear that the intention behind my dismissal is not related” to it.

According to Bar, “the prime minister’s expectation of a personal loyalty that conflicts with the public interest is completely inappropriate.”

Yair Golan, the head of the Israeli Democratic Party, wrote on X that “Netanyahu declared war on the State of Israel.”

The dismissal of the Shin Bet’s head is “a desperate attempt by a criminal defendant to get rid of someone who is loyal to Israel, is looking into Netanyahu and his close circle for serious and dark crimes, and is unwilling to whitewash them,” Golan said.

“The Shin Bet’s head’s dismissal will not occur as if nothing had happened. There will be a lot of resistance, he added, and we will use force to oppose Netanyahu’s plan to establish a dictatorship over the State of Israel.

After a heated dispute between the two that focused on who bears responsibility for October 7, the pair decided to dismiss Bar.

According to an Israeli tally, the Shin Bet, which oversees the monitoring of Palestinian armed groups, recently released a report accepting responsibility for the attack’s failures. The report is seen as Israel’s worst security failure, which resulted in 1,200 fatalities and 251 captured.

The organization also criticized Netanyahu for failing to implement the government’s plans, which contributed to the attack’s genesis.

The prime minister has also resisted requests for an official state commission inquiry into the events of October 7.

Additionally, Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who were in charge of the Hamas attack when they were forced to step down, are among the senior Israeli officials who were being fired.

Nadav Argaman, Bar’s predecessor, said he would release sensitive information about Netanyahu if it was determined that the prime minister had broken the law, which heightened the tensions.