Netanyahu’s push to fire Israel’s domestic security chief sparks an uproar

TEL AVIV, Israel (news agencies) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s has fired or forced out a string of top officials since the deadly Hamas attack on Israel in 2023 that triggered the war in Gaza. The country’s domestic security chief is the newest target.

Netanyahu says he is motivated by a crisis of confidence and a need to get rid of officials who failed to prevent the Oct. 7, 2023, disaster.

But Netanyahu’s many critics say the dismissals are part of a broader campaign aimed at undermining independent government institutions. They say he is doing that to boost his reputation and maintain power while on trial for alleged corruption and facing public pressure to accept his own responsibility for policy failures in the lead-up to Oct. 7.

The announcement by Netanyahu on Sunday that he would seek to fire the director of the Shin Bet, Ronen Bar, came as the security service investigates ties between Netanyahu advisers and the Gulf state of Qatar.

Israel’s attorney general said Sunday that Netanyahu needed to clarify the legal basis for his decision before taking any action, noting that “the role of the Shin Bet is not to serve the personal trust of the prime minister.”

On Monday, Netanyahu shot back with a warning letter to Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, saying she has no authority to intervene in the matter. The dispute adds to growing concerns about the balance of powers in Israel’s government.

Tensions between Netanyahu and Bar had been building for months.

Bar, who was appointed to lead the Shin Bet in 2021 by a previous prime minister, accepted responsibility for his agency’s failure to halt the Oct. 7 attack ahead of time. He already has said he planned to step down before the end of his term in late 2026.

But the Shin Bet investigation into its Oct. 7 failures also pointed blame at Netanyahu for formulating a policy that focused on containing Hamas, while ignoring a growing threat.

Bar had been a key player in negotiations to free Israeli hostages held by Hamas. But he and Netanyahu differed on how to proceed. That led Netanyahu to replace him with Cabinet minister Ron Dermer, a Netanyahu confidant. Critics of Netanyahu said the move highlighted a growing tendency by Netanyahu to surround himself with loyalists.

A pair of Shin Bet investigations recently launched against advisers of Netanyahu appeared to be a tipping point.

One is examining a Netanyahu spokesperson who allegedly leaked to a German news outlet classified documents that appeared to give the prime minister political cover in ceasefire negotiations. The other is looking into claims that Qatar reportedly hired close Netanyahu aides to launch a public relations campaign in Israel.

Qatar, a key mediator between Israel and Hamas, was also the source of millions of dollars in cash sent to Gaza, with Netanyahu’s approval. The money, ostensibly meant for poor families, is seen as having helped Hamas bolster its military capabilities ahead of Oct. 7.

The Movement for Quality Government in Israel, a good governance group, said Bar’s dismissal while the probes are ongoing raises concerns that the move was made out of “political considerations.”

If Bar’s dismissal is approved by the government, he will become the first Shin Bet chief in Israeli history to be fired. But he will also be just the latest in a series of defense officials to exit under pressure from Netanyahu during the war.