Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s sudden effort to remove the head of Israel’s domestic intelligence agency marks the latest salvo in a two-year campaign by the Israeli government to exert more control over state institutions.
The move has prompted calls for mass protests and criticism from business leaders and the attorney general, similar to the social upheaval in 2023 that was triggered by a similar push to reduce the power of state watchdogs.
Netanyahu’s plan to hold a cabinet vote on the future of Ronen Bar, the head of the Shin Bet agency, comes less than a month after his government announced a similar intention to dismiss Gali Baharav-Miara, the Israeli attorney general.
The actions also coincide with a renewed push in parliament by Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition to give politicians greater control over the selection of Supreme Court justices.
These moves are a return to Netanyahu’s failed efforts in 2023 to reduce the power of institutions that had acted as a check on his government’s power, including the Supreme Court and the attorney general. The campaign, known as the judicial overhaul, was suspended only after the Hamas-led attack on Israel in October 2023.
The attempt to fire Mr. Bar prompted opposition leaders and grass-roots activists to call for Israelis to demonstrate outside government headquarters on Wednesday, when the cabinet is set to vote on Mr. Bar’s future.
Business leaders have also issued a statement criticizing Mr. Bar’s dismissal, and the attorney general stated that Netanyahu could not begin the process of firing him until it was determined whether it would be lawful to do so.
Netanyahu’s right-wing alliance argues that reining in the judiciary and other gatekeepers actually enhances democracy by making lawmakers freer to enact what voters elected them to do. However, the opposition says that such moves would damage democracy by removing a critical check on government overreach, making Israel’s society less pluralist and more authoritarian.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/03/17/world/israel-gaza-airstrikes
