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On Sunday, Benjamin Netanyahu said he would plunder one of his domestic spy chiefs, one of Hamas’s October 7, 2023, in a move set to deepen the crisis between the Israeli Prime Minister and the country’s legal authorities.
Netanyahu told Sin Bet Intelligence Agency head Lonen Barr that he had ousted him from the post at a tense meeting conditioned on the government’s decision later in the week.
In a recorded video statement, the prime minister said there was a “continuous lack of confidence” in the bar “growing over time.”
“I believe this step is important to restore the organization, achieve all war objectives and prevent the next tragedy,” Netanyahu added, adding that hints for Singh Bett’s role in the massive intelligence report failure that led to Hamas’ 2023 attacks on Israel in 2023.
However, the intended looting of bars could further deepen the division between Netanyahu and the country’s highest attorney general.
“We cannot fire Barr until we know the facts and legal basis underlying your decision and your ability to address this issue are clear,” Attorney General Galli Baharav Miara said in Netanyahu.
Tensions between Netanyahu and Bar have increased in recent weeks due to an agency investigation into alleged lobbying efforts conducted by an aide to the Prime Minister’s Office on behalf of Qatar.
Netanyahu recently claimed that both Barr and heads of Israeli foreign spy agencies Mossad and David Barnea were tasked with negotiating a ceasefire deal with Hamas in Gaza, and that they took soft lines in consultations and leaked irregular details about the government’s position.
Netanyahu tried to deflect his security chief from distracting responsibility for the surprising attacks by Palestinian extremists.
The then-Defense Minister Joab Garant was fired last November, and military chief Herzi Halevi was kicked out earlier this month.
Like both officials and Barr, he has publicly held responsibility for their role in the worst security obstacles in the country’s history, and stated his intention to resign when time is right.
Netanyahu refused to condemn, resign or set a date for a new election on his part for over 17 months.
In a rebellious statement later on Sunday, Barr said his public duties required him to “continue my position in the near future” due to new hostility in Gaza, continued hostage consultations and the need to “complete many delicate investigations.”
He was also responsible for the Netanyahu government on October 7th. According to Barr, they set up a policy regarding Hamas in Gaza before ignoring attacks and ignored simbet warnings.
“The obligation of trust supported by the Chin Bett chief is first and foremost for the citizens of Israel. The Prime Minister’s expectations of individual obligations of trust that contradicts the public interest are fundamentally false expectations,” Barr added.
The government minister praised the prime minister’s move and postponed it for a long time, but opposition politicians accused it of being undemocratic and illegal.
“Netanyahu fired Ronenbar for one reason: a ‘Qatar Gate’ investigation. . . Netanyahu once again put his personal interests above the national interests and their security,” Opposition leader Yair Lapid wrote on social media platform X, adding that he would petition the Supreme Court to overturn the removal of the bar.
This month, Netanyahu’s Cabinet has already shown that it has not recognized the powers of his bench to launch the formal process to fire Baharav Miara himself and to constitutionally award the powers of the Supreme Court Supreme Court’s Supreme Court.
In preparation for the Hamas attack, where extremists killed 1,200 people and took 250 hostages, Israel saw a ninth consecutive month of mass protest over Netanyahu’s plan to review the country’s judicial institutions.
Critics of reform were called the grab for power by the administrative department, which undermined the authority of the courts and legal officers.
