Israel’s Supreme Court, sitting as the High Court of Justice, on Thursday acceded to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s request for a three-day extension to file a response to Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) Director Ronen Bar’s affidavit.
The premier’s affidavit regarding the High Court petition against Bar’s dismissal was due on Thursday, but the justices granted an extension until Sunday.
The prime minister’s legal team had requested an extension due to Bar’s delay in filing his statement, as well as the fact that one of his attorneys, Zion Amir, was at Auschwitz to participate in the March of the Living.
According to Ynet, the premier was not required to file an affidavit, but without one, the court could not address the Shin Bet chief’s allegations.
After Bar submitted his affidavit on Monday, accusing Netanyahu of acting in an illegal manner, the Prime Minister’s Office described it as “a false affidavit, which will be refuted in the near future.”
The Shin Bet director has “failed miserably in dealing with incitement against the political echelon, including the calls for murder against the prime minister and incitement against the ministers,” the PMO stated.
Bar had “failed to prevent the firing of flares at the prime minister’s residence in Caesarea by violent demonstrators who nearly burned to death a security guard and set fire to the house,” it added, referring to the launching of two flares at Netanyahu’s private residence in 2024.
“The prime minister and government ministers have claimed time and time again in government and Cabinet discussions that no enforcement action is being taken against the wild and violent incitement against them and their families,” the Prime Minister Office statement continued.
“Neither they nor the prime minister ever asked for illegal action against the demonstrators, but they rather demanded equal enforcement that has not yet been implemented,” it stated.
According to Bar, the prime minister requested “on more than one occasion” that he act contrary to the General Security Service Law [the Shin Bet’s full name in Hebrew is the ‘General Security Service’], which aims to regulate the Shin Bet’s operations, including by asking him to look into the funds fueling ongoing anti-government protests.
“In all such cases, these requests were denied,” he stated. “In many instances, Netanyahu asked me to discuss these criteria at the end of work meetings and made sure that the stenographer and the military secretary left the room so the exchanges would not be documented.
“It was made clear to me that if a constitutional crisis arises, I must obey the prime minister and not the High Court,” the security chief also said.
Netanyahu announced on March 16 his intention to dismiss Bar, declaring, “I have an ongoing lack of trust in the Shin Bet chief.”
Four days later, the Cabinet unanimously approved the premier’s motion to dismiss Bar. The resolution cited Netanyahu’s distrust of Bar, deemed detrimental to the government and the internal security service.
According to Section 3 of the General Security Service Law, the government has the authority to “terminate the term of office of the head of the [Israel Security] Agency before the end of his term.”
However, Israel’s top court issued a temporary injunction on April 8 barring Netanyahu from firing Bar, alleging a conflict of interest on the prime minister’s part.
