Netanyahu seeks to fire top security official amid internal power struggle

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu noted Sunday that he will aim to oust Ronen Bar, director of the country’s internal security service, the Shin Bet, this week, The Associated Press reported.

The foreign leader indicated that he has “ongoing distrust” in Bar, which “has grown over time.”

Netanyahu’s office noted that he had notified Bar that a draft resolution for his removal would be presented to the cabinet this week, the New York Times reported.

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, and Shin Bet Director Ronen Bar. (Reuters Photos)

“The prime minister’s expectation of a duty of personal loyalty, the purpose of which contradicts the public interest, is a fundamentally illegitimate expectation,” Bar said in part of a lengthy statement, according to the Times of Israel.

The outlet noted that he asserted that the Shin Bet’s review of the failures that led to the Oct. 7, 2023 massacre against Israel “pointed to a policy led by the government, and the person who has headed it, for years, with emphasis on the year preceding the massacre. The investigation showed a longstanding and deliberate disregard by the political echelon for the agency’s warnings.”

“As someone who headed the Shin Bet on October 7, I took responsibility for the agency’s part and clearly stated that I intend to act on it before the end of my tenure. That is what is expected of everyone,” Bar noted in his statement, according to the report.

Bar was appointed to the post in 2021 by then-Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, the Times of Israel noted, adding that an Israeli Shin Bet director has never been fired, though two have resigned before finishing their terms.

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Israel’s attorney general, Gali Baharav-Miara, told Netanyahu in a letter that “it is not possible to initiate a dismissal process” of Bar “until the factual and legal basis underlying your decision is fully examined, as well as your authority to address the matter at this time,” the outlet reported.

“This is due to the extraordinary sensitivity of the issue, its unprecedented nature, the concern that the process may be tainted by illegality and conflict of interest, and considering that the role of the head of the Shin Bet is not a personal trust position serving the prime minister,” she noted.

However, Justice Minister Yariv Levin has pushed back.

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference in Jerusalem on Dec. 9, 2024. (MAYA ALLERUZZO/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

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“The Shin Bet Law explicitly states that the government has the authority to terminate the service of the head of the agency before the end of their term. This law should be known to the attorney general as well. In case anyone is confused, Israel is a democracy, and everyone in it, including the attorney general, is subject to the law,” he noted, according to the Times of Israel.

The attorney general ordered a probe last month into “the connection between officials working in the Prime Minister’s Office and officials connected to the state of Qatar,” the outlet previously reported, noting that the Shin Bet is involved in conducting the investigation.

“For a year and a half, he saw no reason to fire him, but only when the investigation into Qatar’s infiltration of Netanyahu’s office and the funds transferred to his closest aides began, did he suddenly feel an urgent need to fire him immediately,” Opposition Leader Yair Lapid said of Ronen Bar in a post on X, according to the Google translation into English from Hebrew.

Alex Nitzberg is a writer for Fox News Digital.