Shin Bet, director of Israel's internal intelligence agency, claimed that Benjamin Netanyahu fired him for refusing to promise loyalty to the prime minister in the court and used the agency to monitor anti-government protesters.
The battle between Netanyahu and Shin Bet chief Netanyahu and Ronen Bar pushed Israel to the brink of a constitutional crisis after the Supreme Court blocked the cabinet's ruling to fire the bar.
The law firm claims that the decision to fire him was driven by Netanyahu's “personal interests.” On Monday, the Bar Association filed an 11-page affidavit to the Supreme Court, which stopped his firing last month. The affidavit details his version of the incident, which led to his relationship with Netanyahu and its dismissal.
Among the worst allegations in the lawyers' affidavit, Netanyahu claimed “a few times” that he had explicitly told Shinbe that he had refused to do so. The lawyers' agreement said the prime minister asked the agency to “provide details about Israeli citizenship, protest activists”, participated in any demonstrations against the Netanyahu government and monitored those deemed “protest funders.”
Related: Who is the fired Israeli Shin Bet security chief Ronen Bar?
The Bar Association also claimed that Netanyahu had made it clear to him that his loyalty must be the Prime Minister rather than the High Court in the constitutional crisis. He also said: “Trying to force me” to sign a document that helped Netanyahu avoid public testimony in a corruption case against him, which was re-pushed.
The Bar Association accused Netanyahu of expressing these requests at the end of the meeting, away from any official documents. “It's obviously to prevent any dialogue recordings,” Bell said.
“To this day, the reason why I opened the fire is not clear to me,” he wrote in the affidavit. “However, the developments that have happened in the past few months show one thing: sometime late last year, the decision to fire me was merged. It was not derived from any professional indicators, but from Netanyahu's expectations, and I would personally be loyal to him.”
The Netanyahu government is reluctant to submit an affidavit and the bar association reportedly faces great pressure in the lawsuit filed with the court on Monday. He was originally scheduled to submit on Sunday but asked for an additional day. It was also leaked to the Israeli media, which was intended to resign in mid-May, something Shin Bet immediately denied.
Netanyahu's office immediately fought back on the bar's allegations, calling it “completely lying” and saying that “false affidavit” would be refuted. The government must submit its response to the court on Thursday. Netanyahu said he lost all his trust in Bar's ability to lead the bet and accused him of conflicts of interest and politicizing institutions.
The relationship between lawyers and Netanyahu has become increasingly fierce after the attack on Hamas militants in southern Israel on October 7, 2023. In reports on the incident, Shin Bet acknowledged the agency's own failure but also criticized the Netanyahu government's policies, believing that it had already led to Hamas' establishment in Gaza.
Netanyahu has never accepted any responsibility for Israel's worst national security disaster, which killed 1,200 people, mainly civilians, and resulted in 251 people being kidnapped and hostages in Gaza.
The law firm authorized an investigation into Netanyahu's close aides, allegedly paid from Qatar to promote its interests in Israel, while Qatar is said to partially fund Hamas in Gaza, which is said to only strengthen the Prime Minister's hatred. As Netanyahu already faces many corruption charges in court, political opponents claim he wants to remove him to undermine the investigation.
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In his affidavit, Barr stands in action taken by Shin Bet. “With the incitement of investigation, the incitement of me and all those responsible for protecting state secrets proved the connection between the investigation and the time I was fired,” he said.
On Sunday night, Netanyahu Likud Party Minister Shlomo Karhi told Israeli media that the court should not interfere with the cabinet's decision to dismiss the lawyer's decision. “Those who talk about the High Court, everything is democratic, what kind of democracy is this?” he said.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid opposes the direct threat of violence faced by Bar at a press conference as Bell faces the Netanyahu government. “There is no precedent for the level of incitement and insanity,” he said. “The red line has crossed. If we don't stop, there will be a political assassination, probably more than one. The Jews will kill the Jews.”
