Tensions are high in the Zionist entity as Israeli officials trade accusations over Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, whom Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been pressing ahead with proceedings to sack him.
In his latest accusation against Bar, Netanyahu claimed that Bar investigated far-right so-called National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir without his approval.
“The claim that the prime minister authorized Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar to gather evidence against minister Itamar Ben Gvir is yet another exposed lie,” Netanyahu said.
“The document that was published, which shows an explicit directive from the head of Shin Bet to collect evidence against the political echelon, resembles dark regimes, undermines the foundations of democracy, and aims to bring down the right-wing government”, Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.
The accusation came the day after Netanyahu’s government began proceedings to sack Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, and two days after Bar’s firing on Friday. The Supreme Court froze Bar’s dismissal that same day.
Israel’s Supreme Court temporarily halted the dismissal of the Israeli domestic intelligence service chief, shortly after the Cabinet approved the move. What prompted PM Netanyahu’s government to remove Shin Bet head Ronen Bar? pic.twitter.com/hMxl1SfoWv
— DW News (@dwnews) March 23, 2025
Also on Monday, Ben Gvir of having “conspired against Israeli democracy,” saying he “should sit in prison.”
“Ronen Bar conspired against the democratic state, he ordered the collection of incriminating information against a government minister, he is a criminal, a danger to democracy, he belongs in prison,” Ben Gvir told reporters ahead of his far-right Otzma Yehudit party’s weekly faction meeting in the Knesset.
Opposition Responds
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid responded to Ben Gvir, saying: “The National Security Offender who dares to speak like this about the head of the Shin Bet is proof that the Israeli government has lost all its inhibitions.”
In a statement, the former premier said that Ben Gvir’s words “are violent and dangerous incitement” and that “a prime minister in a civilized country would have removed him from office and not crawled to him to come back and save his government.”
For his part, National Unity chairman Benny Gantz blamed Netanyahu for bringing Kahanists into the government after.
“Netanyahu chose to bring Ben Gvir into the Knesset, he chose to form a government with him, he chose to return him to the government,” Gantz tweeted.
“He is not being ‘blackmailed’ by the Kahanists, he chooses to bring them into the holy of holies of state security — and to harm the security of us all.”
Ben Gvir does not have the standing to judge Bar “and the first person responsible for the enormous damage Ben Gvir is causing is Netanyahu,” he wrote.
Source: Israeli media (edited by Al-Manar English Website)
