A Cabinet vote will be held at 9:30 p.m. on Thursday on the dismissal of Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) Director Ronen Bar, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office notified ministers the previous night.
The proposal stipulates that Bar’s tenure will end on April 20, citing Netanyahu’s “persistent personal and professional distrust” of him, which is described as detrimental to both the government and the security service.
Israel’s Supreme Court, sitting as the High Court of Justice, on Tuesday rejected a petition that sought to bar Netanyahu from bringing Bar’s dismissal to a vote in the Cabinet.
In doing so, the justices also ruled against the position of Israeli Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, who had sought to delay the vote until after a full analysis of the “factual and legal basis” for Bar’s dismissal, as well as of the prime minister’s “authority to address the matter at this time.”
Netanyahu told Baharav-Miara on Monday that she lacks the authority to prevent his government from firing Bar.
The premier announced on Sunday that he would be seeking the dismissal of Bar, citing a lack of confidence and “ongoing distrust.”
“At all times, but especially in such an existential war, the prime minister must have full confidence in the head of the Shin Bet,” said Netanyahu in a statement released by the Prime Minister’s Office on Sunday night.
“But unfortunately, the situation is exactly the opposite—I do not have such confidence. I have an ongoing lack of trust in the Shin Bet chief. A distrust that has only grown over time,” the statement continued.
Bars’s five-year term would normally end on Oct. 14, 2026.
