Politics Calls for protest against dismissal of intelligence chief in Israel
The dismissal of domestic intelligence chief Ronen Bar announced by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has sparked great outrage among Netanyahu's critics.
17.03.2025, 10:51
SDA
Several organizations called for protest rallies against the controversial move on Tuesday and Wednesday. Opposition leader Jair Lapid announced that his Future Party would file a lawsuit against the dismissal.
Netanyahu had announced the dismissal of Bar in a video message on Sunday evening. He cited a "lack of trust" in the intelligence chief as the reason. Israel was in a fight for survival and Bar's dismissal was a necessary step "to achieve our war aims and prevent the next tragedy". He wants to have the decision approved by the government this week.
Netanyahu had recently removed Bar from the Israeli negotiating team for the indirect talks with the Islamist Hamas. Relations between the two have long been considered strained. Netanyahu's policy was also recently criticized in an investigation by the domestic intelligence agency Shin Bet into the mistakes that made the Hamas massacre on 7 October 2023 possible.
In addition, Shin Bet is investigating alleged illegal relations between Netanyahu's confidants and Qatar. Qatar is one of the negotiators in the indirect talks with Hamas, but is also considered a supporter of the terrorist organization.
Attorney General: Legal investigation necessary
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara announced on Sunday evening that Netanyahu could not release Bar before a thorough legal investigation into the circumstances. There is concern "that the process is tainted by illegality and conflicts of interest". A corruption trial against Netanyahu has been ongoing for several years.
A protest appeal by the organization "Chomat Magen Leisrael" (Defense Wall for Israel) stated, among other things: "We warn the Israeli public that the dismissal of the Shin Bet chief and the appointment of a puppet will not only lead to a cover-up of the Katargate affair, but will de facto turn Israel into a dictatorship in which the domestic intelligence service serves as an instrument of the prime minister and the ruling party."
The founding editor of the "Times of Israel", David Horovitz, wrote on Netanyahu's move that the Prime Minister wanted to "strengthen his personal control of Israel". He is thus plunging Israel back into the crisis that his right-wing religious government had already triggered at the beginning of 2023 with the highly controversial restructuring of the judiciary.
"Now he risks tearing the country apart again, apparently indifferent to the fact that the 2023 split emboldened Israel's enemies and that Israel is still in the midst of the ensuing war against Hamas and is still trying to free its hostages from captivity in Gaza," Horovitz wrote.
