Israel’s Supreme Court issued an injunction on Friday temporarily freezing the firing of the head of the domestic intelligence agency, according to a ruling posted on the court’s website.
The ruling will allow the court to consider a petition for the dismissal, which was unanimously approved by the cabinet late Thursday and made a decision by April 8, the statement said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamim Netanyahu announced last week that he had lost confidence in Shin Bet chief lawyer Ronen Bar and intended to fire him, prompting thousands to join demonstrations in Jerusalem, protesting the dismissal this week, a critic’s attempt to undermine key state institutions.
The bar association said in a government letter published Thursday that the firing came weeks after investigations into bribery allegations involving Qatar and the Netanyahu office’s bribery allegations based on unfounded charges and motivated by other illegal attention.
The protests, based on early anti-government demonstrations, blended with supporters of Israeli hostages still in Gaza, who were shocked to resume bombing the Palestinian Feikou after the ceasefire.
Netanyahu, who has a secure majority in parliament and has been returned by hardline national security minister Itama Ben-Gvir, has been able to get rid of the protests, but they highlighted that the protests have been deepened since the divisions of Israeli society returned to power in late 2022.
The hostility between Netanyahu supporters and elements of security and defense agencies for more than two years has been blamed for failures, which has led to Hamas’ attack on October 7, 2023, the worst security disaster in Israel’s history.
Even before the Gaza War, there was a massive protest on Netanyahu’s plan to contain the power of the judiciary, which he saw as a necessary check on the judicial overreach, but protesters saw it as a direct threat to democracy.
