Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has until Sunday to submit an affidavit in support of firing Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) Director Ronen Bar, the High Court of Justice ruled yesterday. Its decision was in response to an appeal from the government to extend Thursday’s deadline.
The government argued that the court had extended Bar’s deadline when he requested it, albeit only by a day, and that the classified sections of his affidavit were only sent to the government at a late hour. A proper response demands more time, it said.
Furthermore, attorney Zion Amir, who is representing the government in the case – the Attorney-General’s Office, which ordinarily would, opposes the dismissal – is in Poland for the March of the Living on Holocaust Remembrance Day, and more time was needed to compose a response, the government said.
The affidavits are the result of a compromise proposal set by the High Court at the conclusion of a hearing on the legality of Bar’s firing on April 8. Petitioners argued that the move was rooted in political motivations and not professional ones.
In particular, it was prompted by the agency’s investigation into Qatari ties and influences on figures close to Netanyahu, including aide Yonatan Urich and spokesperson Eli Feldstein, they said.
The Attorney-General’s Office said the move had broken protocol. According to the government, however, it was within its rights to fire the Shin Bet director, because a lack of trust between Bar and Netanyahu necessitated Bar’s dismissal.
Bar claims his firing is due to political threats
Bar asserted in his affidavit that Netanyahu had decided to fire him due to a series of measures that posed political threats, including the investigation, Bar’s refusal to approve security measures that would have delayed Netanyahu’s testimony in his criminal trial, and the Shin Bet’s October 7 massacre probe.
Regarding the probe, Bar said its findings had indicated that the political echelon ignored repeated warnings about the security dangers concerning the social rift over the 2023 judicial reform. His insistence that a state commission of inquiry must be formed in the wake of these findings provided yet another reason for the prime minister’s decision to dismiss him, Bar wrote.
After the affidavit was made public, calls were made to establish a process for declaring Netanyahu incapable of serving in his position.
Part of the debate surrounding Bar’s firing was about the date by which Bar would need to resign. The government argued that he should have done so after the publication of the agency’s October 7 probe, similar to what former IDF chief of staff Lt.-Gen. (ret.) Herzi Halevi did in accepting accountability.
Bar’s term is set to end sometime in 2026, and although he offered some damning insights into the government’s behavior in his affidavit, he has not yet specified an exact date by which he would step down.
He said this would happen “shortly,” allegedly telling bereaved father Itzik Bonzel that this would occur within a few weeks or up to two months at most.
Over the past week, Netanyahu has requested that the court set a date for Bar to leave his position. The judges denied the request on Thursday, saying that legally, Bar should have been asked to do so first. The government had until Monday to provide evidence that this protocol was followed, it said.
Haaretz appealed to the court on Thursday to have the contents of the affidavits published, except for any information that posed a threat to national security. All sides – the government, Netanyahu, the Attorney-General’s Office, and Bar – will have until next Sunday, May 4, to submit their responses.
In his affidavit, Bar also wrote that the prime minister had asked him to use the agency’s resources to monitor prominent anti-government protest leaders.
Reports later said one of these figures was attorney and activist Gonen Ben Yitzhak, a former Shin Bet agent and one of the leaders of Otef Atzurim, a legal-aid organization that provides free services to protesters.On Thursday, the group said it had joined Haaretz’s petition.
Eve Young and Eliav Breuer contributed to this report.