High Court orders PM to respond to petition for Shin Bet chief to remain in post

The High Court orders the government and the prime minister to respond to a petition demanding that outgoing Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar remain in his post until a replacement is found for him.

Bar is set to step down this Sunday, and so the court orders the respondents to file their responses by 2 p.m. tomorrow to the petition filed earlier today by the Movement for Quality Government in Israel and the Defensive Shield of Israel Forum.

“The State of Israel is in the longest war in its history, and the Shin Bet is taking a central part in the war effort. Leaving the position unstaffed could seriously harm the state’s security,” the petitioners argue.

Bar was fired by the government in March under highly controversial circumstances. The High Court froze his dismissal while it adjudicated petitions arguing that his firing was tainted by severe procedural failures and motivated by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s personal and political expediencies, including investigations conducted by the Shin Bet into allegedly illicit ties between the prime minister’s aides and Qatar.

Bar subsequently announced he would step down on June 15. The High Court then ruled that his dismissal had been unlawful and that Netanyahu had a conflict of interest in firing Bar due to the so-called Qatargate investigation, but did not issue operative orders due to Bar’s decision to resign.

Netanyahu, nevertheless, nominated Maj. Gen. David Zini to replace Bar, but the attorney general said this was a conflict of interest for the prime minister and that Zini’s appointment was unlawful.

It remains unclear if Netanyahu will press ahead with Zini’s appointment.