Lapid: Netanyahu firing Ronen Bar for only one reason – the ‘Qatar-gate’ probe

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid accuses Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of seeking to fire Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar in order to stymie an investigation into his staffers’ ties with Qatar.

“Netanyahu is firing Ronen Bar for only one reason — the ‘Qatar-gate’ investigation,” Lapid declares. “For a year and a half, he saw no reason to fire him, but only when the investigation into Qatar’s infiltration of Netanyahu’s office and the funds transferred to his closest aides began did he suddenly feel an urgency to fire him immediately.”

Lapid notes that Bar has said he will take responsibility for the failure of October 7 and resign after the hostages return home, adding that his dismissal at this time is “irresponsible” and shows a lack of commitment to those held in Gaza.

The premier recently removed Bar and Mossad chief David Barnea from heading the team negotiating the Gaza truce-hostage deal, over which Netanyahu’s right-wing flank has threatened to topple the government.

The “clear purpose” of Bar’s dismissal “is to sabotage a serious criminal investigation into the Prime Minister’s Office,” Lapid adds. “Netanyahu has once again put his private interests above the good of the country and its security. All the slander and all the attempts to shift responsibility for the failure onto the security system will not help Netanyahu. He is primarily responsible for the failure and disaster of October 7, and that is all that will be remembered of him.”