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Sunday, April 6, 2025
Netanyahu says Shin Bet chief barred from investigating recording of Jewish Division head
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleNava Freiberg is The Times of Israel's deputy diplomatic correspondent.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issues a statement rejecting recent remarks by the Shin Bet and asserting that its chief, Ronen Bar, is prohibited from investigating a newly surfaced recording involving the head of the agency’s Jewish Division.
“The Shin Bet chief, who was dismissed by the government from his position, is barred from investigating the serious incident in which the head of the Jewish Division was recorded acting illegally — because he is personally involved in it,” the PMO writes in a statement.
Yesterday, the Kan public broadcaster published a recording revealing a conversation between the Jewish Division head and a senior officer in the police’s West Bank division, in which the former referred to certain settler youths as “shmucks” and said they were being arrested and held without evidence.
“It is the Shin Bet chief who, by definition, authorizes every arrest of a Jew, and the recordings themselves state that the arrests — in which the head of the special investigations unit expressed concern that there is no evidence — are being handled directly by the office of the Shin Bet chief,” the statement continues.
“After falsely accusing the prime minister in his statement to the High Court of Justice of using the organization’s powers against civilians, Ronen Bar has a vested interest in ensuring the opposite is not proven true. It will be the new Shin Bet chief, once appointed, who will handle the grave issue that has come to light,” concludes the PMO.
In response to the recording, the Shin Bet said yesterday that the conversation “solely addressed lawbreakers suspected of violence, who took the law into their own hands,” while adding that “the content and style of the remarks that were said do not suit the values and professional conduct of the agency,” and that Bar would examine the matter.
The PMO responded yesterday, calling “the shocking recording… a substantive threat to democracy” and vowed a thorough investigation of the Jewish Division’s activities.
“Only in dark regimes do the secret police act in this dangerous way,” added the statement from the premier, who is currently working to oust Bar amid the so-called Qatarqate probe into Netanyahu’s aides’ allegedly illicit ties with Qatar.
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