Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s Prime Minister, has relieved the Director of the national security agency Shin Bet, Ronen Bar, following the agency’s inability to foresee the October 7, 2023 assault by Hamas. Netanyahu officially dismissed Bar during a cabinet meeting on Thursday night, ending Bar’s five-year tenure that started in October 2021. In a video message on Sunday, Netanyahu declared his decision to oust Bar due to an ongoing rancor and a lack of confidence that had consistently intensified. This decision intensified public outcry and fueled anti-government demonstrations in Jerusalem, where thousands of Israelis joined forces with protestors against Israel’s escalating campaign in Gaza.
Since Tuesday, Israel has been conducting a series of aggressive strikes on what it identifies as Hamas targets in Palestinian territories, effectively terminating the fragile two-month truce that had held previously. As a key player in Israel’s war against Hamas, the Shin Bet’s role and the confidentiality of its operations and personnel are stringently guarded state secrets.
Mr. Bar has accused the Prime Minister of making the decision based on political motives. The Israeli Attorney General, Gali Baharav-Miara, disagreed with the termination, arguing that the lawfulness of the decision needed to be examined before implementation. Furthermore, a letter that Netanyahu sent to his government members before the decision meeting referenced a “constant lack of professional and personal trust” between the prime minister and Mr. Bar, suggesting that his term ends on April 20. The “loss of professional trust,” the letter pointed out, is not just tied to the operational blunder on October 7 but has also grown in recent months due to the Hamas attacks on Israel, which triggered the Israel-Gaza conflict. These attacks resulted in 1,200 fatalities and 251 hostages, to which Israel responded with a major military campaign. According to the Hamas-run Palestinian health ministry, this operation has so far claimed over 48,500 Palestinian lives.
Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwygkknzn9yo
