Shin Bet chief said to warn involving agency in crimefighting could change country
Ronen Bar cautions against inserting security service into ‘every complex issue,’ as politicians increasingly seek its expertise in tackling homicides in the Arab community
Shin Bet director Ronen Bar warned government ministers against trying to involve the internal security agency in issues outside its mandate, saying it could change the face of the country, Hebrew media reported Thursday.
“A country that leans toward involving the Shin Bet in every complex issue will transform into a very different country,” the Ynet news site quoted Bar as telling a ministerial panel established to address rampant violent crime in Arab towns.
Following Wednesday’s meeting, the government said the agency would assist police operations in combating crime in the Arab community that is related to upcoming municipal elections. Crimes against state institutions are already under the agency’s purview, and it was not clear that the announcement represented a significant shift.
Echoing Bar’s warning, former justice minister and opposition MK Gideon Sa’ar also spoke out Thursday against involving the agency in crimefighting.
“I’m in favor of creative solutions,” Sa’ar said in an interview with Radio 103FM. “But the Shin Bet cannot replace the police.”
Sa’ar also cautioned that such a move would distract the security agency from its principal role of combating terror. “There are two separate organizations here with two different jobs,” he said.
Sa’ar also slammed far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and said he was not capable of leading the police at such a challenging time.
“The police are in a crisis and unfortunately the most unsuitable person has been appointed to lead them out of the crisis. A person was chosen who has no experience, knowledge, or ability to lead this organization and to my sorrow we are already seeing the results,” Sa’ar said.
A deadly crime surge in Arab communities continues to shatter records set over the past few years and it has now spread to local politics.
The Shin Bet has identified 15 to 20 Arab regional councils where there are threats from crime families against candidates, voters or public officials, the Kan public broadcaster reported.
One of the victims in a shocking quadruple homicide Tuesday evening in the northern town of Abu Snan was a mayoral candidate. That shooting came a day after the killing of Tira’s municipal director. Since the beginning of the year, 159 members of the Arab community have been killed by violence, much of it attributed by police to warring crime organizations. The figure is over twice as high as for the same period in 2022.
Netanyahu and Ben Gvir have called to involve the Shin Bet in the fight against violent crime, which is not explicitly in the agency’s remit, though it is tasked under a 2002 law “with maintaining state security and maintaining the order of the democratic regime and its institutions against various threats.”
Threats to candidates for office could fall under that designation.
Ben Gvir, who is responsible for police and has faced growing criticism for his handling of the crime wave, is also demanding the use of administrative detention, which enables holding suspects for extended periods without charge.
Judicial officials have indicated using such tools against citizens will create serious legal difficulties.
The three-hour meeting of the ministerial subcommittee on combating crime in the Arab Israeli community included Ben Gvir and Bar.
Bar was said to note that the agency will only be involved on a case-by-case basis where necessary. Bar has previously expressed his reluctance for the Shin Bet to be used in criminal, rather than terror or security-related, cases.
Sources in the justice system expressed their opposition to bringing the Shin Bet into the larger effort against Arab killings, the Ynet outlet reported, citing one unnamed official as saying: “The Shin Bet disapproves of its involvement in monitoring and solving criminal cases in the Arab sector as a matter of routine. This is because it does not want to serve as a police force in the Arab sector, and also out of fear that its working methods will be exposed.
“Instead of mobilizing the Shin Bet to assist the police, [police’s] capabilities and professional manpower should be strengthened.”
Earlier this month Netanyahu blamed “out-of-control criminal organizations” for the violence. Ben Gvir in a Facebook post Wednesday called Arab armed gangs “terrorist organizations” with “huge budgets and hundreds of thousands of weapons at their disposal, including millions of bullets, explosive charges, and grenade launchers.”
In early June, the prime minister said he was “determined to stop this chain of murders” and would see that happen not only by beefing up the police force but also “with the help of the Shin Bet.”
The Times of Israel Community.