Shin Bet chief reportedly provides court with classified info on Netanyahu’s alleged misconduct

Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar included classified details of several scandals involving the Prime Minister’s Office and alleged misconduct by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu himself, in the classified affidavit he filed with the High Court of Justice, alongside the publicly-available affidavit he also filed, Kan news reports.

Bar provided the court with classified details regarding the Qatargate investigation; the leaking of classified documents by Netanyahu’s aide to the German Bild newspaper; Netanyahu’s alleged requests of Bar to use the agency to act against anti-government protesters; and Netanyahu’s alleged request that Bar help him postpone testifying in his criminal trial.

The classified affidavit also included details of discussions between security officials and political officials “over the struggle against Hamas.”

Both affidavits were filed in the framework of High Court petitions against the government’s decision to fire Bar on Netanyahu’s recommendation, on the basis that the prime minister had lost faith in Bar’s ability to do the job.

Bar alleged in his public affidavit that Netanyahu fired him because he was insufficiently loyal to the prime minister, approved criminal investigations into Netanyahu’s aides, and thwarted what Bar described as illegitimate requests by the premier to act against the protest movement against the coalition’s judicial overhaul agenda in 2023.