Sacked chief of Israel intelligence agency Shin Bet hits out at Netanhayu’s conflict of interest

The sacked chief of Israeli’s domestic intelligence agency has lashed the decision to fire him as “entirely tainted by conflicts of interest.”

Ronen Bar, the head of Shin Bet, was sacked on Friday, days after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he no longer trusted him and amid the fallout from a report on the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack.

Mr Bar said the unprecedented move constituted a “fundamentally invalid” attempt to undermine the service as it probes Qatar’s influence at the Prime Minister’s Office.

Mr Netanyahu cited an “ongoing lack of trust” as the reason for moving to dismiss Bar, who joined the agency in 1993.

Mr Bar, meant to end his tenure only next year, was appointed Shin Bet chief in October 2021 by the previous Israeli government that briefly forced Mr Netanyahu from power between June 2021 and December 2022.

His relations with Mr Netanyahu were strained even before the unprecedented October Hamas attack which sparked the war in Gaza, notably over proposed judicial reforms that had split the country.

Relations worsened after the March 4 release of the internal Shin Bet report on the Hamas attack.

It acknowledged the agency’s own failure in preventing the attack, but also said “a policy of quiet had enabled Hamas to undergo massive military build-up”.

Mr Bar had already hinted that he would resign before the end of his term, taking responsibility for his agency’s failure to prevent the attack.

Mr Bar’s dismissal provoked the anger of the Opposition and led to demonstrations accusing Mr Netanyahu of threatening democracy.

Several thousand people braved bad weather late Thursday to demonstrate outside Mr Netanyahu’s private residence in Jerusalem and then the Israeli parliament, where ministers were meeting.

In a letter made public on Thursday, Mr Bar said Mr Netanyahu’s arguments were “general, unsubstantiated accusations that seem to hide the motivations behind the decision to terminate (his) duties”.

He wrote the real motives were based on “personal interest” and intended to “prevent investigations into the events leading up to October 7 and other serious matters” being looked at by the Shin Bet.

He referred to the “complex, wide-ranging and highly sensitive investigation” involving people close to Mr Netanyahu who allegedly received money from Qatar, a case dubbed “Qatargate”

Mr Bar’s dismissal comes after the Israeli army launched a series of massive and deadly bombardments on the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, following a two-month truce and “targeted” ground operations.

Mr Netanyahu said the operations were intended to put pressure on Hamas to release the 58 hostages remaining in the territory.

In rare criticism of Mr Netanyahu, Israeli President Isaac Herzog said Thursday that he was worried the resumption of strikes in a time of crisis could undermine “national resilience”.

Mr Bar will leave his post when his successor is appointed or by April 10 at the latest