High Court: Netanyahu’s decision to fire Shin Bet chief was unlawful, he had conflict of interest

The High Court of Justice rules that the government’s decision to fire Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar was made “improperly” and “unlawfully.”

Chief Justice Isaac Amit and Justice Daphne Barak-Erez find that the government did not meet its obligation to bring the issue to the Senior Appointments Advisory Committee, as the attorney general had instructed.

Deputy Chief Justice Noam Sohlberg dissents, contending that the petitions have been rendered moot by Bar’s decision to resign next month and that there should therefore be no ruling on the subject matter, though he agrees there were “significant difficulties” with Bar’s dismissal.

The court’s majority opinion also says that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had a conflict of interest in recommending Bar be fired due to the Shin Bet’s ongoing investigation into close aides to the prime minister in the Qatargate affair.

And the court says that the decision to fire Bar was made “without a factual basis” and without having given Bar a formal hearing before deciding to fire him.

The court says, however, that following Bar’s announcement that he will resign on June 15, it will not issue any operative orders over the matter.