From the Liveblog of
Sunday, March 16, 2025
Cabinet members laud decision to fire Shin Bet chief
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"
Members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet welcome his announcement that they will get to vote this week on forcing out Shin Bet head Ronen Bar.
“In a democracy, the public elects the elected representatives, and they are the ones who appoint and dismiss the officeholders of the executive branch according to their level of performance and the level of trust between the parties,” declares Culture and Sports Minister Miki Zohar.
Following the failure of October 7 and given the decreasing trust between Bar and Netanyahu, the former must leave his position, agrees Education Minister Yoav Kisch. “It would have been better if he had resigned of his own initiative. Since that didn’t happen, the prime minister was right to decide to have him fired. On Wednesday, I will support the decision to terminate Ronen Bar’s position.”
Bar’s ouster is “an existential and immediate necessity,” tweets Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi, accusing the Shin Bet chief of having “turned himself into a dictator with the backing of the attorney general.”
“Bar is one of the main people responsible for the October 7 disaster, and now he continues to undermine Israel’s security and erode democracy,” Karhi accuses, calling his dismissal “a vital step in restoring public trust and stopping the erosion of the foundations of Israeli democracy.”
“At the upcoming government meeting, I will support his dismissal and the dismissal of the attorney general with all my strength,” he adds.
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