Netanyahu’s office denies reports he is planning to fire Shin Bet chief
PM reportedly seeking to dismiss Ronen Bar after flares fired at his home and amid investigations into document leaks, accusing Shin Bet of failing to protect him and his family
The Prime Minster’s Office denied reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is considering firing the director of the Shin Bet, Ronen Bar.
Earlier this week, Hebrew media reported that Netanyahu was actively looking to dismiss Bar, citing sources close to the premier.
According to those sources, in the wake of the firing of two flares at Netanyahu’s home in Caesarea during anti-government demonstrations on Saturday, the prime minister has been discussing the possibility of sacking the Shin Bet chief, saying that Bar and the security service have failed in their duty to protect Netanyahu and his family.
The PMO dismissed the reports on Monday, calling them “completely unfounded,” and said that “no discussion on this issue has taken place.”
Meanwhile, the Haaretz daily reported that Netanyahu’s office recently asked the Shin Bet to provide a legal opinion saying the premier shouldn’t testify in his criminal trial at Jerusalem District Court on security grounds.
With his scheduled December 2 testimony approaching, Netanyahu wants the Shin Bet to tell the court that it is not safe for him to be spending long periods of time in a publicly known location, given concerns over drone and missile attacks by Iranian proxies, the report said. It has been reported that the court does not have a safe room or a bomb shelter.
A Hezbollah drone exploded near Netanyahu’s home in Caesarea last month, cracking a bedroom window. Since the incident, Netanyahu has reportedly been mainly working from a protected basement-level room at the Prime Minister’s Office rather than his usual office on a higher floor.
The Shin Bet reportedly rejected the request from Netanyahu’s office, but has begun looking into how it can ensure the premier’s security throughout the trial. Hebrew news site Walla reported that the Shin Bet’s refusal to comply with the request has added to the growing tension between the PMO and the security service.
Following the reports that the PMO was looking to fire Bar, the Movement for Quality Government in Israel sent a letter to Netanyahu and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara demanding an immediate halt to the efforts and to what it called the “smear campaign” against the Shin Bet head.
Bar was appointed as the chief of the Shin Bet in 2021 for a five-year term, but the government has the authority to end his tenure and appoint a new director. In the history of the State of Israel, no Shin Bet director has ever been fired during their term, though two directors resigned before completing their terms.
Last week, prime minister’s son Yair Netanyahu, a far-right social media influencer, accused the Shin Bet of trying to overthrow his father’s government and of torturing IDF soldiers, joining a chorus of calls to dismiss Bar due to a Shin Ben investigation into allegations that top-secret documents were stolen from the IDF and one of them was leaked by a PMO spokesman.
The premier himself has accused Israeli media of opening a “front” against him alongside Hamas, Hezbollah, and other Iran-backed groups, alleging that investigations into the scandals linked to his office were part of an attempt to weaken the nation during wartime.
The prime minister said that the string of allegations regarding the PMO in recent weeks was “an organized hunt designed to harm the country’s leadership and weaken us in the midst of a war.”
The Times of Israel Community.