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 ongoing battle between Shin BET chief Netanyahu and Ronen Bar pushed Israel to the brink of a constitutional crisis after the Supreme Court blocked the decision of the Israeli cabinet to fire the lawyer from his position.
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, stopping his firing last month, detailing a version of the incident in which he broke down with Netanyahu and his firing.
One of the worst allegations in the lawyers’ affidavit was that Netanyahu explicitly told Netanyahu to monitor citizens involved in anti-government protests, which he refused. 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 that “trying to force me” to sign a document that would help Netanyahu avoid public testimony in corruption cases against him, which he postponed.
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.”
During the filing to the court on Monday, the bar association was reportedly under great pressure from the Netanyahu government not to file an affidavit. 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 claims he lost all his trust in Bar’s ability to lead Shin Bet and accused him of being trapped in conflicts of interest and politicized 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, saying it had created Hamas 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 lawyer authorized to apply for Shin BET’s authorization to open an investigation called “Qatar Gate” – a closure aide that was claimed to be obtained from Qatar to promote its interests in Israel, while the Hamas financing in Gaza was said to be a closure aide to promote its interests in Israel. As Netanyahu already faces many corruption charges in court, political opponents claim he wants to remove him to undermine the investigation.
Related: Is the scandal too far for Benjamin Netanyahu?
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.”
