(Adnkronos) – The Israeli government voted unanimously overnight to dismiss Shin Bet director Ronen Bar, who will step down on April 10 or when a suitable replacement is chosen. The government met last night at the Prime Minister’s office in Jerusalem to vote on the dismissal. Bar was invited to the meeting to answer the accusations against him, but did not attend. In a letter to ministers, Bar strongly criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Bar argued that the head of the Shin Bet should not be loyal to the prime minister but to the citizens, rejecting Netanyahu’s claims of a loss of trust between them. He added that Netanyahu had failed to provide examples to support the reasons for his dismissal. During the meeting, Netanyahu said there is “a fundamental lack of trust” between him and Bar, adding that the current state of affairs is unsustainable. “This is true for any democratic country, and especially for a democracy like ours,” he added.
Netanyahu said he does not believe Bar is “the right person to rebuild” the Shin Bet. “You all know what happened on the night of October 7, and in handling the negotiations, I have also come to the conclusion that Bar is simply not suitable for this… He had a soft approach, not firm enough… I sat with him for hours, and he showed me that he is not the right person.”
