‘I’ll stay’ - Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar rejects dismissal by PM Netanyahu, opposition leaders call for mass protests

Ronen Bar, the director of the Israeli domestic intelligence agency, Shin Bet, rejected and publicly repudiated Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his decision to fire him.

In a long statement published on Sunday evening, shortly after Netanyahu announced his decision to dismiss Bar due to a “lack of confidence,” the intelligence chief announced his “decision to continue in my role in the near term.”

Netanyahu’s decision to fire Bar is expected to cause a new wave of mass protests across the country. The leaders of the opposition lost no time in calling for these protests on Sunday evening.

Yesh Atid party chairman Yair Lapid accused Netanyahu of trying to end the “Qatar-gate” investigation in a post on 𝕏 and vowed his party would go to court to stop the firing.

National Unity party leader Benny Gantz called the decision “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 charged that Netanyahu had “lost the moral right to continue in office,” was now “carrying out a purge” of the security chiefs and was “threatening democracy.”

The decision, Eisenkot said, “require[s] mass protest and public and political struggle, until [Netanyahu] is quickly replaced by democratic means.”

In his statement, Bar stressed his “public responsibility” as the basis for this decision to remain in his position, “particularly in light of the potential for escalation, the high security tensions, and the real possibility of a return to fighting in the Gaza Strip, where the Shin Bet plays a central role.”

In a video message published shortly before, Netanyahu announced he would submit “a draft decision to the government this week” regarding Bar’s dismissal.

“I have a continuing lack of confidence in the Director of the Shin Bet. Distrust that only grew with time,” Netanyahu stated.

Bar acknowledged the personal lack of trust but repudiated Netanyahu for expecting “a personal duty of trust that contradicts the public interest,” calling it “inherently improper, standing in opposition to the Shin Bet Law and the value of statesmanship that guides the General Security Service and its personnel.”

“The duty of trust that the head of the Shin Bet owes is first and foremost to the citizens of Israel – this principle underpins all my actions and decisions,” stated Bar.

His public duties, Bar continued, included “the need to investigate all involved parties, including the government's policy and the prime minister – not just the IDF and Shin Bet, which thoroughly examined themselves,” over their failures on Oct. 7.

“In addition, I must fulfill my personal commitment and the service’s obligation to secure the return of the hostages, complete several sensitive investigations, and ensure the optimal preparation of two candidates to replace me, for the prime minister’s selection,” he added.

Bar also emphasized that he took responsibility for his role and the role of the Shin Bet on Oct. 7, “and clearly stated my intention to fulfill that responsibility before the end of my term, as should have been expected of everyone.”

However, he added that the Shin Bet’s investigation of Israel's failures “pointed to a policy led over years –particularly in the year preceding the massacre – by the government and its leader.”

While Bar’s statement didn’t directly mention “Qatar-gate,” an ongoing investigation of alleged ties between Netanyahu aides and the State of Qatar, several opposition leaders accused the prime minister of trying to end the probe by firing Bar.

“Netanyahu fires Ronen Bar for only one reason: the ‘Qatar-Gate’ investigation. For a year and a half, he saw no reason to fire him, but only when the investigation into Qatar's infiltration of Netanyahu's office and the funds transferred to his closest aides began, did he suddenly feel an urgent need to fire him immediately,” Lapid alleged.

“The shameful way in which Netanyahu is trying to fire him indicates a loss of temper and a breakdown in values. Netanyahu has once again put his private interests above the good of the country and its security. All the slander and all the attempts to shift responsibility for the failure onto the security system will not help Netanyahu,” the opposition leader added.

“Tonight's decision has nothing to do with the good of the country,” Eisenkot said in agreement. “The timing and manner of the dismissal, against the backdrop of investigations against the Prime Minister's entourage require mass protest and public and political struggle, until he is quickly replaced by democratic means.”

The head of the Israel Bar Association, Amit Bachar, accused the government of “wildly promoting a coup d'état, the main purpose of which is to crush the independence of the judiciary and the control elements over the government.”

He added that the government “cannot – neither legally, nor publicly, nor morally – dismiss one of the important gatekeepers whose job it is to protect the law and the citizens of the country, and replace him with someone whose loyalty is to the leader and not to the principles of democracy.”

The most drastic statement came from The Democrats party chairman Yair Golan, who announced Netanyahu had “declared war on the State of Israel.”

“The more the investigations around him branch out and reveal problematic connections, the more Netanyahu goes into hysteria, slanders, dismisses, threatens, and tries to eliminate the gatekeepers,” Golan wrote on 𝕏.

“There will be tremendous resistance, we will fight with force and we will not allow Netanyahu to turn the State of Israel into a dictatorship of a corrupt person."