High Court hearing on firing Shin Bet chief to be broadcast live

The High Court of Justice will hear petitions against the government’s controversial decision to fire Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar on Tuesday morning, with the proceedings set to be broadcast live from the courtroom.

The hearing will begin at 9 a.m. and will be broadcast on the Supreme Court’s website and the Judicial Authority’s YouTube channel.

Four opposition parties and four government watchdog groups filed petitions against Bar’s dismissal, arguing that since the Shin Bet is one of the agencies investigating the Qatargate affair involving alleged wrongdoing by Netanyahu’s aides, the decision to fire Bar was tainted by a conflict of interest and by ulterior, political motives.

The government argues that since Netanyahu is not a suspect in the case, there is no conflict of interest, and that the court cannot force the government to work with a security chief in whom it has no faith.

Attorneys for each petitioner will get a maximum of 15 minutes each to plead their case, and the attorney general, who opposed Bar’s dismissal, will get 45 minutes.

The government’s attorney will then get 75 minutes to rebut those arguments, after which the petitioners’ attorneys will get another five minutes each to respond.