IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir, Mossad Director David Barnea, and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) head Ronen Bar were not invited to a security cabinet discussion on Wednesday evening.
The explanation provided was that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened the meeting for a diplomatic briefing on his visit to Hungary and Washington, and therefore, the heads of the security agencies did not need to attend.
However, the meeting comes against the backdrop of the High Court of Justice’s Tuesday decision to freeze Bar’s dismissal.
The High Court encouraged the Attorney-General’s Office and the government to reach an acceptable “creative solution” to the government’s decision to fire Shin Bet head Ronen Bar.
Bar will continue to serve in the role until further notice, and no steps may be taken to end his tenure, including declaring a replacement or appointing an acting head.
Reactions to High Court ruling on Ronen Bar
The Prime Minister’s Office declared this ruling “puzzling.”
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich had called on the prime minister not to invite Bar to any meetings or work with him, as he is now “Shin Bet chief in name only,” KAN reported.
National Unity party leader Benny Gantz had a different view, stating that excluding Bar from meetings and “boycotting” him is “playing with people’s lives.”