Likud spokesman berates members for staying silent on High Court’s Shin Bet ruling

Likud spokesman Guy Levy berated party lawmakers and ministers on Wednesday who did not attack the High Court’s “puzzling decision” on Tuesday to block the dismissal of Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar.

“It’s unbelievable that some of the Knesset members and ministers have not yet reacted to the puzzling decision from yesterday,” Levy wrote in a WhatsApp group chat with Likud spokespeople, according to a number of Hebrew media outlets, which published screen grabs of the message showing it had been sent at 9:33 a.m.

Many Likud members took to X during the High Court hearing on Tuesday to assail the judges for kicking out hecklers, including a bereaved father and a Likud lawmaker. However, only a handful have since reacted to the ruling itself, which forbade the government from replacing Bar or curtailing his authority for the time being.

The office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the head of Likud, also described the decision as “puzzling” in a statement Tuesday night, without definitively stating if the premier would comply with the ruling.

“It is unthinkable that the Israeli government would be prevented from removing a failed Shin Bet head from office simply because an investigation has been opened that is not related to any of the government ministers,” declared the premier’s office, saying the precedent would allow the agency’s director to open up an investigation to forestall his own dismissal.

Netanyahu will continue interviewing candidates to replace Bar, the statement added.

Other politicians, including Likud members, have called on the government to ignore the court — a position supported by around 31% of the public, according to poll results released by the Israel Democracy Institute on Tuesday.

The Walla news site quoted Netanyahu confidant Natan Eshel as saying that the government would effectively take Bar out of the loop even if he isn’t officially ousted.

“Poor Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, the High Court has turned him into a potted plant. He’ll sit in meetings, he won’t interest anyone, no one will listen to him,” Eshel reportedly wrote in a text message to journalists on Wednesday. “If I were in his place, I wouldn’t attend meetings where I’m superfluous.”

Asked by a journalist on Monday if he would honor the court order, Israel Police chief Daniel Levy answered in the affirmative before being interrupted by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who accused the media of “provocation.”

Opposition members, who have condemned suggestions that the government disobey a High Court order, welcomed Levy’s comment.

In its ruling on Tuesday, the court gave the government until April 20 to reach a compromise on the issue with Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, who had warned that Netanyahu had a conflict of interest because of the ongoing Shin Bet probe of his top aides’ alleged criminal ties with Hamas-backer Qatar.

The government voted last month to fire Bar, after Netanyahu cited ongoing mistrust in the spy chief since the Hamas October 7 attack. The unprecedented vote sparked mass anti-government demonstrations, with protesters accusing Netanyahu of seeking to offload his own responsibility for the onslaught and install a loyalist atop the Shin Bet.

Jeremy Sharon contributed to this report.