PM may need civil service panel’s okay before firing Shin Bet chief, in what could delay process by weeks

The offices of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara are said to be examining whether the government needs approval from a commission that vets candidates for some of the country’s key civil service positions before firing Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar in what could delay by weeks a move that the premier was hoping to finalize tomorrow.

A 2016 cabinet decision states that the Senior Appointments Advisory Committee must sign off on the firing of any appointment that it previously approved. However, the law creating the Shin Bet — which predates that decision — gives the government the power to terminate the agency chief’s tenure before it expires. Netanyahu and Baharav-Miara’s offices are now looking into which takes precedence, Haaretz reports.

The newspaper cites unnamed legal sources who say it is unclear whether the government would be able to advance the firing if the committee were to vote against it, adding that such a conclusion from the commission would further boost the chances of the High Court of Justice overturning the decision.

A Senior Appointments Advisory Committee review could take between several days and several weeks to conduct, Haaretz says.

Notably, though, the panel is filled by a pair of Netanyahu loyalists, including Professor Talia Einhorn, who may be in a conflict of interest, given that her son Srulik is a key suspect in the investigation that the Shin Bet has launched into Netanyahu’s office over its alleged ties to Qatar.