The Israeli Supreme Court on Friday ordered a temporary suspension of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Ronen Barr as head of his inside intelligence agency, Singh Bett.
Several high-ranking Israeli government figures have criticised the Supreme Court’s decision, and some have asked the government not to follow it.
“Ronen Barr’s term will end on April 10, or a replacement will be found,” said Shlomo Karhi, the Likud party in Netanyahu, adding that the judiciary “has no jurisdiction to intervene” and that the court’s ruling “has no validity.”
The Israeli Business Forum threatened to attack if the government fails to comply with the court’s decision. The Business Forum represents the leader of approximately 200 people of the largest companies in the Israeli economy.
“If the Israeli government does not respect decisions and leads Israel to a constitutional crisis, I call on the Israeli people to stop respecting government decisions.
Israel’s high-tech headquarters has joined the threat of attacking when Supreme Court decisions are not respected, including dozens of largest companies in the sector where Israel has become a leader in the world.
“Not following the Supreme Court is a red line that will never return,” their statement said, adding that it will turn Israel into a “third world country where all foreign investors flee.”
The 40 local government heads in Israel, including mayors of Tel Aviv and Haifa, announced that if the government does not respect the Supreme Court’s decision, they will be on the side of the judiciary.
“We call on the Prime Minister to immediately announce that the government will comply with the Supreme Court,” the local government head said in a statement.
Israeli leader Netanyahu responded to criticism and said Israel is “a state controlled by law, and the law determines who will lead Singh’s bets.”
“There’s no civil war,” Netanyahu said.
Tens of thousands of people have been demonstrated to the government following their intention to fire bars on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Singh Bett works with Israeli police for Israeli leaders while investigating parts of Netanyahu about alleged financial ties with Qatar.
Bar did not attend the meeting at the location where he was fired
Barr chose to send a letter instead as he did not attend the meeting on Thursday, when the vote on his firing was made.
In a letter leaked to Israeli media, Barr called the process of firing him “inappropriate for every employee, not to mention Singh’s bets, of course, of course.”
Regarding the reasons for Netanyahu’s move, Barr wrote that the Israeli leader’s argument over the move was intended to “conceal the real motives” behind the motivations he labeled after the letter as “deeply wrong.”
In the letter, Barr dealt with Netanyahu’s claim that he lost faith in the leader of Singh Bett.
“This is not about lack of trust, it is about perceptions of personal loyalty rather than loyalty to the public,” Burr wrote.
How did Netanyahu respond?
Netanyahu joined his X account to condemn what he called a “deep left nation” as “trying to sabotage the will of the people.”
Israeli police have arrested several people after hundreds of protesters clashed with police officers on their way to the Israeli Prime Minister’s official residence.
Israeli media reports suggested that some of the protesters had tried to break through police barricades in front of Netanyahu’s home. Several demonstrators were injured and police were using water cannons.
Hostage Trading Support
Democrat opposition leader Yair Golan was pushed to the ground by police officers while attending the demonstrations.
“A few pushes won’t stop me,” he posted on his X account. “Now we’re going to continue fighting, take back the hostages and stop the coup!”
Protesters also were disappointed by the resumption of the fight in Gaza and broke the two-month ceasefire, largely due to the impact of the decision on the prospect of returning home from Gaza prisoners.
Many of the hostages announced during the two-month ceasefire went on social media to criticize the government’s decision to end the ceasefire. Some call it a hostage death sentence that Hamas, a Palestinian Muslim organization, still held.
The group has been designated as a terrorist group by Israel, Germany, the US and several other countries, and has attracted 59 hostages after the terrorist attack on October 7, 2023, with about 20 people still being considered alive.
Recent polls show that most Israelis want the government to continue negotiations on hostage exchange contracts that will end the war and lead to the complete withdrawal of Israeli soldiers from the Gaza Strip.
Edited by Sean Sinico
