After protests, justices briefly hear from lawyer for bereaved backing Bar’s ouster

Supreme Court President Isaac Amit allows a legal representative of families whose relatives were killed on October 7 to express their opposition to petitions against the government’s decision to fire Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar.

Amit’s decision to grant attorney Yehudah Puah 10 minutes to plead his case follows chaotic scenes in the court earlier after a bereaved father denounced the court for hearing the petitions that could result in Bar remaining in his position against the government’s will, leading to an uproar in the courtroom and outside it as protesters accused the court of lacking the authority to overturn the firing.

Puah accuses Bar of negligence, which he says resulted in the deaths of the children of his clients.

“He should have been fired on October 8. The fact that the government didn’t do what it should have done until now is a crime, but it can’t be that the Shin Bet chief who didn’t issue warnings despite the intelligence he received is still in office,” says Puah.

“After the government makes the decision [to fire Bar], at the very least, the decision should come into effect.”