Israel’s anti-government protest movement has adopted a new cause: saving the job of Ronen Bar, head of the Israeli Security Agency (aka Shabak or Shin Bet), who was fired by the Israeli government in a unanimous vote on March 20.
On March 22, an estimated 100,000 people demonstrated in various cities against his firing. “Ronen Bar, we’re with you and we’ll defend you,” read one banner, which included a picture of Bar with two heart images.
The puzzling choice of Bar, given his share of the responsibility for the failure of Israel’s intelligence services on Oct. 7, 2023, can only be understood as an attempt to keep a figure whom the protest movement deems sympathetic to its cause in charge of Israel’s secret service, observers tell JNS.
Likud Knesset Member Amit Halevi told JNS that with talk of a looming constitutional crisis, (the government may ignore a High Court ruling against Bar’s firing), anti-government forces would like a part of the security establishment in their camp, especially as they feel they’ve lost the army and the police.
Mordechai Kedar, a senior research associate at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, agreed with Halevi, noting that the Israeli left lost the legislature years ago as the majority of Israelis shifted to the political right.
However, he said, the left held on to major institutions, including the court, the army, the media, academia and the arts.
The left recently lost the army with the appointment of Brig. Gen. Eyal Zamir as chief of staff, and the Defense Ministry is in the hands of Israel Katz of the Likud Party.
Now the left sees its grip on the Shin Bet and the Attorney General’s Office at risk, he said.
According to Halevi, it’s “ridiculous” that the government’s opponents see state institutions as belonging to their side. It’s bad when one side views a ministry or branch as its political fiefdom, he said, but “particularly dangerous” when the institution in question is Israel’s equivalent to America’s FBI.
Bar sent a letter to the Cabinet when it met over his dismissal (he refused to attend the meeting) arguing that the discussion “does not comply with the legal provisions and rules concerning the termination of any employee’s tenure, let alone a senior official, and especially the director of the Shin Bet.”
It wasn’t clear what rules he was referring to as the government has the right, according to the law, to dismiss the head of the Shin Bet, Halevi told JNS.
The protesters cloak their real aims in high-minded rhetoric, such as “saving democracy,” but the way they define democracy is “15 members of the Supreme Court decide,” added Halevi.
Bar’s political views are not well known—“Shin Bet directors don’t typically give interviews,” noted Halevi—but his actions indicate he shares similar attitudes to the government’s opponents.
First, there is Bar’s behavior the night before the Oct. 7 massacre. When Bar understood something serious was afoot, he rushed to Shin Bet headquarters, where he stayed until the attack broke out. But he didn’t call the prime minister’s office. The prime minister was only informed at 6:29 a.m., when the attack had already begun.
“It’s not like the prime minister was too busy,” said Halevi. “It shows Bar doesn’t take into consideration the public’s representatives. We now see this attitude big time in his reaction to his dismissal.”
Yoni Ben-Menachem, Middle East intelligence analyst for the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs (JCFA), said a key reason for the support Bar has seen in recent days is that the left sees him as a major witness against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when an investigative committee is established to investigate the events surrounding the Oct. 7 massacre.
“This is why they’re protecting him. Also, as long as he’s in office he can leak sensitive information to them,” he told JNS.
The previous Shin Bet head, Nadav Argaman, to whom Bar served as deputy, told Israel’s Channel 12 News on March 13 that he could release compromising information if Netanyahu breaks the law, i.e. ignores a High Court ruling.
Despite the recent surge in protests, Kedar insisted they are losing support. He expects that they will be much reduced as a result of a bill moving through the legislature that would impose an 80% tax on donations from foreign entities to Israeli nonprofits.
Beyond that, the Israeli public is no longer with the demonstrators, he said. “They are losing their base as well.”