High Court to hear high-stakes challenge to government’s firing of Shin Bet chief

The High Court of Justice is set to hear petitions this morning against the government’s highly contentious move to fire Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar.

The high-stakes session is set to begin at 9 a.m., and will be livestreamed here.

The case is about far more than Bar himself, and is seen as part of the government’s clash with judicial authorities and its efforts to remove checks on its power.

Critics accuse Netanyahu of seeking to scapegoat Bar for the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, while shirking responsibility himself. The premier maintains he has every right by law to remove the head of the internal security agency, and doubly so following the failures that enabled the Gaza onslaught.

The petitioners argue that the prime minister had a clear conflict of interest in removing Bar from office since the Shin Bet is involved in the Qatargate investigation, in which close aides to Netanyahu are alleged to have conducted work promoting Qatar’s image in Israel while working for the prime minister. Netanyahu has claimed, without offering evidence, that the investigation is part of efforts by the so-called “deep state” to harm his leadership.

Read Jeremy Sharon’s analysis of the case here.