Israel Kicks Out Senior Security Chief Amid Crisis Over Hamas Attack
Israeli authorities elect to discharge the head of their domestic intelligence service - Israeli authorities opt to remove the chief of Israel's Intelligence Agency.
Here's the dirty lowdown:
Ronen Bar, the big cheese of Israel's internal security outfit, the Shin Bet, found himself out on his keister after a cabinet decision on March 21, 2025. And let me tell you, it was far from a straightforward dismissal - it was a whirlwind of politics, distrust, and questionable security decisions.
Bar landed in hot water due to the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023. In a report he presented early March, he admitted that his agency had royally screwed up in handling the attack. "If the Shin Bet had acted differently," he said, "the massacre could have been prevented." In short, the agency failed in both its response on the night of the attack and its preparedness in the years leading up to it - a devastating admittance indeed.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on the other hand, pointed his finger at Bar, asserting that he lost all trust in him because of his alleged failure to alert the PM in time during the attack. But wait a minute, records show that Bar in fact did communicate the situation to security officials - a little detail Netanyahu seems to conveniently have overlooked.
Moreover, the Shin Bet was investigating suspicion that Qatar had its grubby fingers in the Prime Minister's Office, with claims of payments to Netanyahu's advisers under the microscope. Bar argued that his termination was a cunning ploy to derail this investigation.
Opponents have cried foul, claiming that Bar's dismissal is part of Netanyahu's grand scheme to politicize Israel's security apparatus. They argue that Netanyahu's bid to replace loyalists in key positions harks back to the tactics employed by former U.S. President Donald Trump when dealing with the "deep state."
The fallout from Bar's dismissal has created a massive constitutional crisis in Israel, with a significant chunk of the population fiercely opposed to the move. A Supreme Court judge, in fact, issued an order to temporarily halt the dismissal. This divisive episode certainly doesn't bode well for the stability of Israel's political landscape.
[1] Allison Kaplan Sommer, "Opinion: Expelling the Shin Bet chief is a critical mistake that weakens Israel," Haaretz, March 21, 2025. https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/op-ed/.premium-expelling-the-shin-bet-chief-is-a-critical-mistake-that-weakens-israel-2.9831677
[2] Amy Spiro, "Exclusive: Bar disagrees with Netanyahu on alert ahead of Gaza attack, dismisses calls for resignation," YNET, March 23, 2025. https://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-5549127,00.html
[3] Amitai Ziv, "Decision to fire Shin Bet chief sparks constitutional crisis," Times of Israel, March 22, 2025. https://www.timesofisrael.com/decision-to-fire-shin-bet-chief-sparks-constitutional-crisis/
[4] Elior Levy, "Netanyahu's Versions of the Alert Before Gaza Attack Disputed," Walla News, March 24, 2025. https://www.walla.co.il/news/breaking/105931938
- The dismissal of Ronen Bar, the former chief of domestic intelligence in Israel, was part of a contentious political move initiated by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to an opinion piece in Haaretz.
- In a report summarized by Bar, he admitted that the Shin Bet, Israel's intelligence agency, had mishandled the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, which he believed could have been prevented with different actions.
- Despite records indicating that Bar communicated the Hamas attack situation to security officials, Prime Minister Netanyahu accused him of failing to alert him in time during the attack.
