According to reports by The Associated Press, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced his intention to remove Ronen Bar, the director of Israel’s internal security service, the Shin Bet, this week.
The foreign leader indicated that he has “ongoing distrust” in Bar, which “has grown over time.”
The New York Times stated that Netanyahu’s office informed Bar that a proposal for his dismissal would be put forward for approval by the cabinet during the week.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference in Jerusalem on Dec. 9, 2024. (MAYA ALLERUZZO/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Notably, Netanyahu emphasized that the Shin Bet Law grants the government the power to dismiss the agency’s head before the end of their term. He highlighted that this legal provision should be familiar to the attorney general and emphasized that Israel operates under a democratic system where everyone, including the attorney general, is bound by the law.
The attorney general ordered a probe last month into “the connection between officials working in the Prime Minister’s Office and officials connected to the state of Qatar,” the outlet previously reported, noting that the Shin Bet is involved in conducting the investigation.
“For a year and a half, he saw no reason to fire him, but only when the investigation into Qatar’s infiltration of Netanyahu’s office and the funds transferred to his closest aides began, did he suddenly feel an urgent need to fire him immediately,” Opposition Leader Yair Lapid said of Ronen Bar in a post on X, according to the Google translation into English from Hebrew.
