The Israeli premier cited an “ongoing lack of trust” between himself and Israel Security Agency head Ronen Bar • Netanyahu’s “expectation of a duty of personal loyalty” is “fundamentally illegitimate,” said Bar.

By Akiva Van Koningsveld, JNS

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Sunday that he would be seeking the dismissal of Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) director Ronen Bar, citing a lack of confidence and “ongoing distrust.”

“At all times, but especially in such an existential war, the prime minister must have full confidence in the head of the Shin Bet,” said Netanyahu in a statement released by the Prime Minister’s Office on Sunday night.

“But unfortunately, the situation is exactly the opposite—I do not have such confidence. I have an ongoing lack of trust in the Shin Bet chief. A distrust that has grown over time,” the statement continued.

Due to this lack of trust, Netanyahu said he had decided to submit a resolution to the government calling for Bar to be fired before the end of his five-year term on Oct. 14, 2026.

“I would like to clarify,” Netanyahu continued, that “I am full of appreciation for the women and men of the Shin Bet. They do dedicated and important work for all of our security. However, as the elected leader of the Jewish state, I am certain that this step is necessary for the restoration of the organization, for achieving all of our war goals, and for preventing the next disaster,” referring to the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas massacre.

The premier’s announcement came a month after he removed Bar from the Israeli team shuttling between Doha and Cairo to negotiate the future of the ceasefire deal with the Hamas terrorist organization.

Last week, Netanyahu accused Bar of holding off-the-record briefings with Israeli journalists in an attempt to tarnish his image.

Netanyahu has reportedly been attempting to oust Bar for months due to the Shin Bet’s failure in the run-up to the Oct. 7 attacks.

Bar is reportedly planning to remain in the post until the return of the remaining hostages from the Gaza Strip and the establishment of a state commission of inquiry into Oct. 7—something Netanyahu has resisted, preferring a political panel that would also include security officials.

According to the PMO, Netanyahu summoned Bar to his office for an urgent meeting on Sunday night, where he informed him that the Cabinet would consider his dismissal later this week. That vote is reportedly set to take place during a special meeting on Wednesday.

In a lengthy response to Netanyahu’s statement, Bar said that “the duty of loyalty placed on the Shin Bet is first and foremost to Israeli citizens.”

Netanyahu’s “expectation of a duty of personal loyalty, the purpose of which contradicts the public interest, is a fundamentally illegitimate expectation. It is contrary to the General Security Service Law and contrary to the patriotic values that guide the Shin Bet and its members,” said the head of the Israeli equivalent of the FBI.

Following reports that Bar was refusing to step down, Shin Bet officials clarified that the director would accept his dismissal if the decision passed.

Israeli Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, whose dismissal the government will discuss next week, informed Netanyahu on Sunday he could not fire 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 government’s freedom of action in this regard is limited by “the extraordinary sensitivity of the issue, its unprecedented nature, the concern that the process may be tainted by illegality and conflict of interest,” said Baharav-Miara, adding that the “role of the head of the Shin Bet is not a personal trust position serving the prime minister.”

In a response, Israeli Justice Minister Yariv Levin stated that, “The General Security Service 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.”

He added, “In case anyone is confused, Israel is a democracy, and everyone in it, including the attorney general, is subject to the law.”

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich hailed Netanyahu’s decision to fire Bar as a “necessary step,” tweeting that “it would have been appropriate for the head of the Shin Bet to take real responsibility and resign at his own initiative over a year ago.”

“After such a significant failure as the one that occurred on Simchat Torah [Oct. 7], responsibility mandates vacating the position long ago,” he said, adding that the justifications Bar gave for his continuation in the job were “brazen, arrogant, and the complete opposite of democracy.

“Furthermore, in recent months, there have been significant disagreements between him and the political echelon, which will be addressed in due course, providing another reason why he cannot remain in his position,” Smotrich wrote.

Itamar Ben-Gvir, who leads the right-wing Otzma Yehudit opposition party, slammed Baharav-Miara’s opposition to the move, writing that “since the attorney general herself is in the midst of a dismissal process, perhaps it’s worth reminding her that the ‘conflict of interest’ can also apply to actions made against the government and its leader.”

He concluded: “It’s time to put an end to the deep state rule, and first and foremost—to expedite the dismissal of the attorney general.”

Meanwhile, opposition leader Yair Lapid of the Yesh Atid Party asserted that the prime minister was now seeking the dismissal of the Shin Bet director “for one reason only—the ‘Qatar-gate’ investigation.”

Last month, Baharav-Miara opened a criminal probe into what the Attorney-General’s Office described as “the connection between elements in the Prime Minister’s Office and elements linked to Qatar.”

Qatar, which has hosted the Hamas leadership and has provided the organization with hundreds of millions of dollars, played a role in mediating the freedom of hostages held by the terrorist group.

“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 urgency to fire him immediately,” wrote Lapid in his statement on Sunday night.

Yair Golan, the leader of the far-left HaDemokratim (“The Democrats,” a merger of the former Labor and Meretz parties), described the issue in a statement as “a struggle for Israel’s security, future and character.”

“We will fight in the Knesset, in the courts and in the streets. We will stop Netanyahu’s attempted coup,” the left-wing leader vowed on Sunday.

Bar entered the ranks of the Israel Security Agency as a field agent in 1993, shortly after completing his mandatory Israel Defense Forces military service in the elite General Staff Reconnaissance Unit.

Bar was appointed as the head of the ISA’s Operations Division in 2011, became chief of the service’s resource development department five years later, and between 2018 and 2021 served as deputy director.

He was appointed director under then prime minister Naftali Bennett in October 2021.