The moment that the chiefs of the Mossad and the Shin Bet “must ask themselves whether this is something I can or cannot say to the prime minister…the whole system is cratering,” former prime minister Ehud Olmert said on Thursday.
Speaking at the Meir Dagan Conference at the Netanya Academic College, Olmert contrasted the relations he had with Dagan, who was Mossad chief during his 2006-2009 term as prime minister (Dagan’s term ran 2002-2011), to the crisis in relations between current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his defense chiefs.
Olmert added that the infighting between Netanyahu and his defense chiefs is emblematic of a crisis in leadership infecting the country’s current leaders.
He was speaking in the context in which Netanyahu and the government recently voted to fire Shin Bet Director Ronen Bar, against Bar’s will, with the agency chief remaining in office at least until April 8 per as order by the High Court of Justice.
Netanyahu and Bar have been in a public war of words for the last six weeks since Bar’s Shin Bet opened a probe into top aides of the prime minister regarding the scandal known as Qatargate.
Qatargate allegations
Qatargate refers to allegations that top Netanyahu aides were paid funds by Qatar in a way that could have impacted their handling of national security matters, including the hostage negotiations with Qatar and Hamas.
Besides Bar, Netanyahu was also in a public war of words with recently resigned IDF chief Herzi Halevi over the handling of the hostage issue and over the government’s lack of support for drafting haredim into the IDF.
Finally, though Mossad Director David Barnea has avoided a public fight with Netanyahu, it has been leaked that the two had disagreements over the hostage negotiations and the prime minister removed Barnea from leading the talks in February.