Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has fired the head of the nation’s security service over its failure to anticipate the 7 October 2023 attack by Hamas.
The Israeli cabinet met on Thursday evening to formally approve the early dismissal of Ronen Bar, who was appointed in October 2021 for a five-year term as the Shin Bet’s chief.
Netanyahu announced his intention to sack Mr Bar in a video statement on Sunday, citing an “ongoing distrust” between the two men which he said had “grown over time”.
The move sparked outrage and further inflamed anti-government demonstrations in Jerusalem, which saw thousands of Israelis join forces with protestors opposing Israel’s renewed assault on Gaza.
It is the first time in Israel’s history that a government has fired the Shin Bet’s leader.
A letter sent to sent by Netanyahu to members of his government ahead of the meeting referenced a “persistent loss of professional and personal trust” between the prime minister and Mr Bar, and proposed his term end on 20 April.
“The loss of professional trust has been consolidated during the war, beyond the operational failure of 7 October [2023], and in particular in recent months,” it said, referring to the Hamas attacks on Israel which sparked the Israel-Gaza war.
The Shin Bet is Israel’s domestic intelligence agency and plays a key role in the war. Its activities and membership are closely-held state secrets.
However, Mr Bar has characterised the decision to oust him as politically motivated.
The Times of Israel said that Mr Bar did not attend the cabinet vote, but sent a letter saying that firing him was “entirely tainted by conflicts of interest” as the Shin Bet investigates the Prime Minister’s Office over allegations of “Qatar’s involvement in the heart of Israeli decision-making”.
The Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara late last month ordered the police and the Shin Bet to investigate officials within Netanyahu’s office over alleged financial and ties to Qatar. A gag order has since been issued on all information relating to the investigation. Netanyahu’s Likud Party denies all allegations.
Ms Baharav-Miara – a vocal critic of Netanyahu who is herself facing dismissal proceedings – argued that Mr Bar could not be fired until the legality of the move had been assessed.
The Movement for Quality Government in Israel, an NGO, said it had launched an appeal against the “illegal decision […] posing a real risk to national security”.
Yesh Atid, the centre-right party led by Yair Lapid, said it had filed an appeal on behalf of several opposition parties and denounced the sacking as a “decision taken due to a blatant conflict of interest by the prime minister”.