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Bereaved families call on Shin Bet chief to quit by May 15

Forum of Heroism calls on Ronen Bar to honor reported pledge to resign, citing harm to public trust and national security if he remains in post.

Netanyahu, Bar
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) director Ronen Bar, April 18, 2024. Photo by Koby Gideon/GPO.

The Forum of Heroism, representing bereaved Israeli families, has called on Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) Director Ronen Bar to honor his reported commitment to resign by May 15.

According to a letter released by the forum and cited by Israel’s Channel 12 News, Bar made the pledge during a meeting last week with several families who lost loved ones in the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack.

“You pledged to conclude your role no later than May 15—keep your word,” the families wrote in the letter addressed to Bar.

The Forum of Heroism, which includes families of soldiers killed in the Swords of Iron War, emphasized that Bar’s continued tenure “harms the people, the country and national security.”

Forum chairman Yehoshua Shani, whose son Ori was killed in battle at Kibbutz Kissufim, urged Bar to announce his resignation before Israel’s upcoming Memorial Day, stating that doing so would prevent further societal division and maintain public trust.

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