Israel’s Shin Bet security chief says he will resign after Netanyahu row
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Ronen Bar, the director of Israel’s Shin Bet internal security service, has said he will resign in less than two months, after weeks of tension with Benjamin Netanyahu, who has tried to fire him, bringing Israel to the brink of a constitutional crisis.
“After 35 years of service, in order to allow an orderly process for appointing a permanent successor and for professional handover, I will end my role on 15 June 2025,” Bar told a Shin Bet memorial event on Monday.
The battle between Netanyahu and Bar intensified after the supreme court blocked a decision by the cabinet to dismiss Bar from his post – the first Shin Bet head to be fired.
Netanyahu said he had lost trust in Bar’s capacity to lead Shin Bet and accused him of a conflict of interest and of politicising the agency.
Bar’s decision to step down will now spare the supreme court from making a potentially divisive and contentious judgment.
Last week, in a 31-page affidavit to the supreme court, Bar, 59, alleged that Netanyahu had tried to fire him for refusing to pledge his loyalty to the prime minister over the courts and tried to use the agency to spy on anti-government protesters.
Netanyahu filed his response with the court on Sunday, rejecting Bar’s accusations. He has repeatedly referred to a “deep state” in Israel that he alleges seeks to thwart democratically elected leaders and undermine elected governments.
The relationship between Netanyahu and Bar, a former special forces soldier who holds degrees from Tel Aviv and Harvard universities, deteriorated after the publication in March of a Shin Bet report on the 7 October 2023 attacks by Hamas militants in southern Israel. The service admitted to mistakes but criticised policies of the Netanyahu government that it said had enabled Hamas to build up its strength in Gaza and catch Israel by surprise.
