The Israeli government on Friday voted “unanimously” in favor of Prime Minister ‘s decision to fire Ronen Bar, the head of the Shin Bet, ‘s internal intelligence service, according to a statement from the prime minister’s office.
“The Government unanimously approved Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s proposal to end ISA Director Ronen Bar’s term of office,” the statement said.
Tens of thousands of people have demonstrated against the government since Tuesday following the intention to fire Bar, with the Shin Bet, along with Israeli police, currently investigating several of Netanyahu’s aides over alleged financial connections to Qatar while also working for the Israeli leader.
Bar did not attend meeting where he was fired
Bar did not attend the meeting in which the vote on his dismissal took place, choosing to send a letter instead.
In the letter, which was leaked to the Israeli media, Bar called the process of firing him “inappropriate for any employee, let alone a high-ranking one, let alone the head of the Shin Bet.”
Regarding Netanyahu’s reasoning for the move, Bar wrote it seemed the Israeli leader’s argumentation for the move was aimed at “hiding the real motives” behind his sacking, motives which he labels as “profoundly wrong” later in the letter.
Later in the letter, Bar addressed Netanyahu’s claim that he had lost trust in the Shin Bet leader.
“This is not about the lack of trust, but about the perception of personal loyalty over loyalty to the public,” Bar wrote.
Netanyahu decries ‘leftist Deep State’
Netanyahu took to his X account to blame what he called “the leftist Deep State” for trying to “thwart the people’s will.”
Israeli police made several arrests after several hundreds of protesters had clashed with officers on their way to the Israeli Prime Minister’s official residence, with reports in Israel suggesting some of them tried to break through police barricades in front of Netanyahu’s home. Several demonstrators were injured, with water cannons also being in use by police.
Support of hostage deal
Yair Golan, the head of the Democratim opposition party, was pushed to the ground by police officers while taking part in the demonstration.
“A few pushes will not stop me,” he posted on his X account. “Now, we keep on fighting, we bring back the hostages and we stop the coup!”
Protesters were also voicing their dismay over , breaking a , mostly due to the decision’s implications on the prospect of more hostages returning home from captivity in Gaza.
Many of the hostages released over the two-month ceasefire took to social media to criticize the government’s decision to end the ceasefire, some even calling it a death sentence for the hostages still held by the Islamist Palestinian organization Hamas.
The group, designated a terrorist organization by Israel, Germany, the United States and several other countries, still holds 59 hostages it kidnapped after its terrorist attack on October 7, 2023, with some 20 of them thought to still be alive.
According to recent opinion polls, most Israelis would like their government to continue negotiations over a hostage exchange deal which would end the war and result in a complete withdrawal of Israeli soldiers from the Gaza Strip.
Edited by: Sean Sinicio
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