Ex-PMO legal adviser warns Netanyahu government undermining gatekeepers, fueling Oct. 7 failures

Former legal adviser to the Prime Minister’s Office Shlomit Barnea Farago warned that years of political pressure to remove professional gatekeepers contributed directly to government dysfunction during and after Hamas’s October 7 attack, Hebrew media reports.

Speaking for the first time since stepping down from her position six months ago after 24 years in the role, Barnea Farago said at yesterday’s conference of the Association for Public Law that she herself faced attempts by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office to force her out.

She reportedly told attendees that Netanyahu’s chief of staff informed her the premier wanted her dismissed, but she refused, saying, “I replied that I work for the state, and it is the one that employs me. I rejected tempting offers to leave.”

Media reports have previously cited sources close to the prime minister as claiming her departure stemmed from her opposition to renovation requests for the Netanyahus’ private home in Caesarea.

In her remarks, Barnea Farago accused the government of systematically pushing out civil servants who insisted on professional standards and resisted political pressure. She cited multiple cases inside the PMO in which accountants and senior officials were reassigned or removed after clashing with political directives.

“Every dismissal sets a new boundary,” she said, adding that ministries staffed with politically loyal newcomers “failed in providing assistance and care” during the October 7 onslaught and subsequent war, including to evacuees, victims, and hostage families.

According to Hebrew media, Barnea Farago also revealed that Netanyahu sought to dismiss then-Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar on grounds of “loss of trust,” but that she refused to advance the process without factual justification — which she said did not exist.

She described similarly flawed attempts to advance the firing of Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, calling the proposed decision “purely for appearances’ sake” and lacking any proper legal basis.

Barnea Farago further accused ministers of routinely disregarding legal opinions and court orders while simultaneously relying on the Attorney General’s Office when convenient. She warned that politically driven appointments were reshaping the civil service “from an independent, non-political service to one based on personal trust and political loyalty.”