Israel's internal security Chief and head of Shin Bet, Ronen Bar, has said he will step down on June 15. This follows weeks of boiling tensions with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who cited various reasons, including a lack of trust, to remove Bar from his postion.
Both Netanyahu and Bar have traded serious allegations against each other after the political fallout, but Netanyahu’s old survival appears to have prevailed in this highly contested fight for power.
“After 35 years of service, to allow an orderly process for appointing a permanent successor and for professional handover, I will end my role on June 15, 2025,” the Shin Bet chief said at a memorial event at his agency, according to a statement on Monday.
Bar had contested the sacking in a legal case that polarised the country. In an affidavit before the Supreme Court on Sunday, Netanyahu described the Bar as a “liar.”
Also Read: Lessons for democracies, 80 years after Mussolini
The comments came a week after Bar made a public statement to the court in which he accused Netanyahu of demanding loyalty and ordering to spy on anti-government protesters.
“The allegation, according to which I allegedly demanded action against innocent civilians or against a non-violent and legitimate protest during the protests of 2023, is an absolute lie,” Netanyahu said in his court statement.
While the Shin Bet chief denied accusations, and also said he and his associates had warned the Israeli government weeks before the October 7 attack. Yet the government downplayed the threat.
Bar noted instead that his ouster was motivated by a desire to halt the “pursuit of truth” about the events leading up to October 7 and also the corruption charges that hang over Netanyahu in an ongoing, long-drawn-out trial.
Netanyahu named Vice Admiral Eli Sharvit as the next Shin Bet chief but reversed his nomination after the pick was criticised by the United States, a key backer of Israel.
Follow us
