Shin Bet chief Bar set to file statement to High Court over sacking

Shin Bet security service chief Ronen Bar is expected to file a statement to the High Court of Justice about his dismissal by the government last month, in the framework of the legal motions filed against his firing.

At least some of the statement will not be made public.

According to several Hebrew media reports, Bar will tell the court he plans to step down from his post in the middle of May, a step which would avert further legal tensions between the government and the High Court over the unprecedented firing of a head of the Shin Bet.

Bar is also expected to further detail what he claims are the real reasons Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the government fired him. Bar claimed in an initial letter to the court that Netanyahu had repeatedly demanded he tell the judges in the premier’s criminal trial that the prime minister could not regularly testify in court due to security concerns.

Bar said his refusal to heed Netanyahu’s request was the reason for what Netanyahu described as the breakdown in trust between the two.

Since the letter lacked legal standing, Bar was asked by the court to file a formal declaration including dates and other details of his allegations against Netanyahu.