Dramatic decision: PM Netanyahu plans to fire Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar over 'lack of trust'

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced his decision to fire Ronen Bar, the director of the domestic intelligence agency Shin Bet, on Sunday evening.

The dramatic decision follows months of escalating public tensions between the leaders and could cause a fresh wave of mass protests against the government and the prime minister.

“Due to ongoing distrust, I have decided to bring to the government a proposal for a resolution to terminate the position of the head of the Shin Bet,” Netanyahu announced in a video message.

“We are in the midst of a war for our very survival – a war on seven fronts. At any time, but especially during such an existential war, the prime minister must have complete confidence in the director of the Shin Bet. Unfortunately, however, the situation is the opposite: I do not have that confidence,” Netanyahu stated.

Last week, Israeli media reported that the premier was pressuring Bar to resign from his post and to take responsibility for his part in the Oct. 7 failures – but the intelligence chief refused.

Netanyahu and Bar have clashed since the judicial reform began in 2022 and have been increasingly at odds over the hostage deal talks.

“I have a continuing lack of confidence in the director of the Shin Bet – distrust that only grew with time. Due to this continuing lack of confidence, I have decided to submit a draft decision to the government this week on concluding the service of the director of the Shin Bet,” Netanyahu continued.

Channel 12 News reported that the proposal will be discussed on Wednesday.

“I wish to clarify: I have nothing but appreciation for the men and women of the Shin Bet. They are doing important and dedicated work for the security of us all. As prime minister, who is responsible for the Shin Bet, I am convinced that this step is crucial in order to restore the organization, to achieve all of our war objectives, and to prevent the next tragedy,” Netanyahu concluded.

Bar reportedly wanted to stay in his position until the government decided to create a state-level commission of inquiry into Israel's intelligence and security failures surrounding the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

The Shin Bet chief has also sought to block the prime minister’s nomination of a successor whom he believed would be a "political" nominee.

Dismissing a Shin Bet director requires the approval of the attorney general, who is in a long-standing feud with the Israeli government, large parts of which have called for her removal.

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara responded to Netanyahu's announcement by emphasizing that such a decision requires consultation with her, and said: “I am not familiar with the decision.”

Israeli media reported that, due to the ongoing investigations by the Shin Bet and the police of the affair known as “Qatar-gate,” the decision to fire Bar could be seen as a clash of interests and be halted by Baharav-Miara on these grounds.

Netanyahu recently accused Bar and his predecessor, Nadav Argaman, of trying to blackmail him. The police said on Sunday that Argaman would be investigated and invited to an interrogation to discuss the matter.

The decision to dismiss Bar is widely expected to cause a new wave of protests.

Channel 12 military correspondent Nir Dvori hinted that Shin Bet staff may even rebel against the government.

“I don’t know whether Shin Bet people will want to stay on their jobs in this situation. There is a security risk to the state here,” Dvori said.

A Shin Bet official told Kan News that the "public confrontation between the prime minister and the Shin Bet chief is unprecedented and hurts all employees of the organization."

The report added that Shin Bet is concerned that a change in leadership could reverberate throughout the organization, similar to what recently happened in the IDF.

Opposition leaders excoriated Netanyahu for his decision to fire Bar. National Unity party leader Benny Gantz called it “a direct violation of the state's security and the dismantling of Israeli society’s unity for political and personal reasons.”

His party colleague, Gadi Eisenkot, argued that Netanyahu had "lost the moral right to continue in office," and was now "carrying out a purge" of the security chiefs.

This "require[s] mass protest and public and political struggle until [Netanyahu] is quickly replaced by democratic means," he added.

In a post on 𝕏, Yesh Atid party chairman Yair Lapid accused Netanyahu of trying to end the “Qatar-gate” investigation and vowed that his party would go to court to block the dismissal.

However, Netanyahu's move was praised by coalition members.

"Better late than never," Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich responded to the announcement.

"It would have been appropriate for the head of the Shin Bet to take real responsibility and resign on his own initiative more than a year ago, saving the need for his removal," he wrote on 𝕏.

"His clinging to the chair and the reasons given for this in public and in briefings are impudence, arrogance, and the most anti-democratic thing possible. Moreover, in recent months, fundamental differences of opinion have emerged between him and the political echelon that will be addressed in due course, another reason why he cannot remain in his position."

"At the same time, there is no doubt that the head of the Shin Bet has many achievements, and alongside the criticism, the people of Israel are grateful to him for decades of dedicated service to the security of the state," Smotrich added.

Israeli Culture and Sports Minister Miki Zohar.“In a democracy, the public elects the elected representatives, and they are the ones who appoint and dismiss the officeholders of the executive branch according to their level of performance and the level of trust between the parties.”

“It would have been better if he had resigned of his own initiative. Since that didn’t happen, the prime minister was right to decide to have him fired. On Wednesday, I will support the decision to terminate Ronen Bar’s position,” vowed Education Minister Yoav Kisch.

Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi praised Bar’s ouster as “an existential and immediate necessity,” and vowed to vote for his dismissal, which he called “a vital step in restoring public trust and stopping the erosion of the foundations of Israeli democracy.”