Report: PM asked Ronen Bar to act against former Shin Bet agent and activist Gonen Ben Yitzhak

One of the anti-government activists whom Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar to act against is attorney and former Shin Bet agent Gonen Ben Yitzhak, Channel 12 reports.

In an affidavit Bar filed yesterday to the High Court of Justice, Ronen alleged that Netanyahu had asked him on more than one occasion to use the resources and authority of the Shin Bet domestic security agency against activists in the movement protesting the government’s judicial overhaul agenda, which was advanced in 2023.

“The Prime minister expressed to me, on more than one occasion, his desire to see the Shin Bet act against citizens involved in protest activity and demonstrations against the government,” Bar told the court, adding that he was asked to provide information “about the identities of Israeli citizens and protest activists” who had followed government officials with security details.

In a separate confidential affidavit, Bar reportedly went into further details about the people Netanyahu asked him to act against, including Ben Yitzhak.

Ben Yitzhak was one of the founders of the “Crime Minister” political action group, which was founded to protest against Netanyahu’s tenure as prime minister due to the corruption allegations, and later the indictment, against him.

Ben Yitzhak was a central figure in protests outside the Prime Minister’s Residence in Jerusalem and was arrested in 2018 when he stepped in front of Netanyahu’s cavalcade during a visit to the city of Beit She’an.

The Prime Minister’s Office issues a statement denying the allegations in the Channel 12 report, describing it as “another lie by Ronen Bar.”

Says the PMO, “The prime minister never requested to harass any protest activists, but rather requested the obvious from the head of the Shin Bet — to fulfill his duty against lawbreakers who threaten his life and the life of his family, and who breach the security circle.”