From the Liveblog of
Sunday, August 25, 2024
Ben Gvir pays for ad accusing Shin Bet chief of leading Israel to ‘disaster’ with hostage deal
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s far-right Otzma Yehudit party takes out a paid advertisement accusing the head of the Shin Bet security service of compromising Israeli security.
“Ronen Bar failed on October 7 and is leading Israel to another disaster. Say no to a reckless deal,” the ad reads, next to a photograph of the senior official.
In response, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid declares that “only an unstable clown like Ben Gvir is capable — in the middle of a war, while the residents of the north are in shelters and soldiers are being killed — of publishing a paid ad against the head of the Shin Bet, a patriot and a real fighter the likes of which Ben Gvir was not and never will be.”
Bar is one of several members of Israel’s team currently negotiating a hostage-release/ceasefire deal with Hamas. According to Channel 12, he recently warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and members of his cabinet that Jewish terror carried out by violent settlers, and Ben Gvir’s actions on Temple Mount, are doing “indescribable damage” to Israel.
Ben Gvir reportedly demanded that Bar be fired and stormed out of last week’s cabinet meeting after Netanyahu and other ministers defended the Shin Bet chief.
Two months ago, Ben Gvir demanded that Netanyahu fire Bar after Israel released the director of Gaza’s Shifa Hospital from jail and sent him back to the Gaza Strip.
מפלגה בממשלת ישראל נגד ראש שירות הבטחון של ישראל.
ביבי, תדיח את בן גביר. אל תהיה אפס כמו בן גביר. פשוט תדיח. pic.twitter.com/xdWZY5Frwf— Nehemia Gershuni-Aylho (@Nehemia_GA) August 25, 2024
