Netanyahu Says He’s Firing Shin Bet Security Chief Ronen Bar

(Bloomberg) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he’s planning to fire Ronen Bar, the head of the domestic security service Shin Bet, with whom he’s quarreled over responsibility for the Oct. 7 attack, hostage negotiations and a probe into links to Qatar.

A statement from his office issued Sunday evening said he would instruct his cabinet this week to end Bar’s service. 

Under Bar, the Shin Bet launched an investigation into allegations that aides to Netanyahu were also working for the gulf kingdom of Qatar to buff its image, possibly risking state secrets or foreign influence peddling.

The probe came as negotiations to keep a Gaza truce with Hamas going entered a crucial phase, with Qatar the main conduit to Hamas. Tensions were already high between Netanyahu and Bar over the talks and assigning responsibility for the October 2023 Hamas massacre that triggered the war. 

Netanyahu recently removed Bar from overseeing hostage negotiations, placing a trusted aide in his place. Anonymous leaks from the negotiators in the past had blamed Netanyahu for failing to free more hostages. 

Critics accuse the prime minister of seeking to concentrate power in his office and remove anyone around him who challenges him. 

The Movement for Quality Government in Israel, a watchdog advocating democracy and transparency, said that the decision amounts to a “declaration of war on the rule of law.”

The group said the fact that it comes in the midst of an investigation concerning Netanyahu’s office and his people “is a transparent and blatant attempt to torpedo the Qatar-gate investigation and deter gatekeepers.”

Netanyahu, 75, is the country’s longest-serving premier and presides over the most right-wing and religious government in its history, frustrating opponents on the center and left seeking a way to drive him from power. He’s already replaced defense minister Yoav Gallant and the head of the military, Herzi Halevi.

Netanyahu has also been strongly opposed to a state commission of inquiry into the cause and failures leading to the October 7 attack, saying that members of the judiciary who might head such a probe are political opponents who will seek his removal. 

The Shin Bet recently completed an inquiry into October 7 and laid some blame at Netanyahu’s feet. It said he permitted Qatar to send money to Hamas, allowing it to build up its military strength. Key aides of his provoked anger among Palestinians by threatening the status quo on the holy plateau in Jerusalem known as the Noble Sanctuary to Muslims and the Temple Mount to Jews. Finally, the report said, when Netanyahu sought to reduce the power of the courts, that divided the nation and gave its enemies the sense it was weak and ripe for attack.

Netanyahu is also fighting charges of bribery and fraud in a court case that he similarly says is a political witch hunt. 

–With assistance from Galit Altstein.

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