Netanyahu dismissed Ronen Bar last month, citing a loss of confidence following the October 7 resistance operation. The Israeli High Court, however, issued a temporary injunction preventing Bar’s ousting.
Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar revealed that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “repeatedly demanded” that he inform the judges in the corruption trial that the premier should not be allowed to testify in court regularly for security reasons, Israeli media reported on Friday.
According to the Times of Israel, Bar claimed in a letter to the High Court ahead of its hearing next week on petitions against the government’s decision to fire him. Bar said his refusal led to a breakdown in trust between the two.
Shin Bet chief says PM urged him to tell trial judges it wasn’t safe for him to testify https://t.co/XOYtrjSJbP
— The Times of Israel (@TimesofIsrael) April 4, 2025
He noted that his job required that he maintain “professional independence,” rather than “act out of ‘personal loyalty’ to the premier,” the report said.
Netanyahu dismissed Bar last month, citing a loss of confidence following the October 7 resistance operation. The Israeli High Court, however, issued a temporary injunction preventing Bar’s ousting.
Fear of Hezbollah Attack
The premier reportedly made the demand last year when Israel was engaged in battle with the Hezbollah movement in Lebanon. He was concerned about potential Hezbollah drone strikes on the Jerusalem District Court where the trial was expected to be held, and south to have the trial be postponed indefinitely, the report noted.
The judges instead decided to move the trial’s proceedings to the Tel Aviv District Court, “which has a fortified basement.”
Israeli Court Stops Netanyahu’s Move to Fire Shin Bet Head Ronen Bar
Bar also implied in the letter that he had been asked to use the Shin Bet’s tools against Israeli protesters, but he refused.
“I was also required to uphold my professional independence in events related to the service’s handling of issues concerning Israeli citizens and in everything related to the exercise of the service’s powers to act against the citizens of the country,” the intelligence chief wrote.
He also said he was “worried for the future of the Shin Bet” and urged the court to reverse the government’s decision to fire him, the report added.
Qatargate
Bar also said his dismissal at the time of the so-called Qatargate probe would send a “clear message to the entire chain of command in the Shin Bet, including to the next heads of the agency, that if one falls out of favor with the political echelon, they will immediately be fired.”
He was referring to the ongoing Shin Bet and police probe into alleged illicit dealings between close aides of Netanyahu and Qatar.
Bar said there was a “campaign of smear and delegitimization underway designed to deter the investigating authorities,” the report added.
Netanyahu’s office dismissed Bar’s statement, claiming it was “full of lies” and “tainted with severe conflict of interest,” according to the report.
It further noted that Attorney General Baharav-Miara also formally submitted her petition against Bar’s dismissal, saying it was “tainted with a personal conflict of interest” with Netanyahu, “due to the criminal investigations of his associates.”
The Netanyahu government is also seeking to dismiss Baharav-Miara.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
Maybe we’ll get lucky and the government will finally grow a pair of balls and take out Nazinyahu. But then Gvir will step in. They’re all scumbags. It’s a ‘ lesser of two evils ‘ situation.
All the worst things that Israelis have been saying over the years about the Arab governments, they show themselves in this situation.