Netanyahu seeks internal security agency chief sacking

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that he was seeking to dismiss the head of Israel’s internal security agency, who swiftly called the move political and said the premier expected “personal loyalty.”

Netanyahu and Shin Bet head Ronen Bar have been engaged in a public spat in recent weeks over reforms to the agency, which has been accused of failing to prevent the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack that triggered war in Gaza.

At the same time, the Shin Bet has been conducting an investigation into some of Netanyahu’s aides for allegedly receiving payments from Qatar even as the Gaza war raged, according to Israeli media reports.

“Due to ongoing lack of trust, I have decided to bring a proposal to the government to end the tenure of the Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar,” Netanyahu said in a video statement.

Attorney general Gali Baharav Miara, a critic of Netanyahu, said the prime minister’s move is “unprecedented” and its legality needs to be assessed.

In a letter to Netanyahu she said he cannot initiate the process “until the factual and legal foundation of your decision is fully clarified, and until the possibility of addressing the issue at this time is determined.”

Netanyahu, in his statement, said that “there must be complete trust between the prime minister and the head of the Shin Bet,” given that Israel is at war.

“I have had a persistent lack of confidence in the head of the Shin Bet, a distrust that has only grown over time,” he said.