High Court sets April 8 date to hear petitions against Shin Bet chief’s dismissal

Supreme Court President Isaac Amit, incoming Deputy Supreme Court President Noam Sohlberg and Justice Daphne Barak-Erez assigned to panel for hearings

By ToI Staff 23 March 2025, 6:39 pm

Edit

Left to right: Supreme Court President Isaac Amit arrives for a court hearing at the Supreme Court in Jerusalem on March 3, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90); incoming Deputy Supreme Court President Noam Sohlberg attends a state ceremony for fallen Israeli soldiers at Mount Herzl Military Cemetery in Jerusalem on March 6, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90); Supreme Court Justice Daphne Barak-Erez attends the swearing-in ceremony of Justice Isaac Amit as president of the Supreme Court, at the Israeli President's residence in Jerusalem, February 13, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The High Court of Justice on Sunday set April 8 as the date to hear petitions against the government’s controversial decision to fire Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar.

The petitions will be heard by a panel consisting of Supreme Court President Isaac Amit, incoming Deputy Supreme Court President Noam Sohlberg and Justice Daphne Barak-Erez.

The three are the most senior justices on the bench. Both Amit and Barak-Erez are liberals, while Sohlberg is a staunch conservative.

In some cases of heightened impact and consequence, the High Court panel itself may decide to increase the number of judges presiding over a case.

A slew of petitions were filed to the High Court following the Thursday night decision to dismiss Bar, claiming that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the entire government had a conflict of interest in firing the Shin Bet head, due to the security agency’s ongoing investigation into allegedly unlawful ties between close aides to Netanyahu and Qatar.

The court has already waded into the matter by issuing a temporary injunction against Bar’s dismissal, hours after the cabinet decision.

It gave Netanyahu, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara — who opposes firing Bar — and Bar himself until Monday to file their responses to the injunction. The three were also told to file responses to petitions against the dismissal by no later than 72 hours before they are to be heard in court.

Illustrative: Daphne Barak-Erez presides at a court hearing at the High Court of Justice in Jerusalem, January 13, 2020. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

The selection of Amit to sit on the panel that will hear the petitions has its own complications. Justice Minister Yariv Levin and other members of the right-wing governing coalition have previously said they refuse to recognize Amit as chief justice and will not work with him.

While they cite allegations that he had presided over several cases in which he had conflicts of interest, the snub is largely seen as frustration on their part after they failed to change the system to ensure the appointment of a conservative judge.