The Israeli Supreme Court issued an injunction on Friday temporarily freezing the dismissal of the head of the domestic intelligence service as protestors returned to the streets for a fourth day.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced last week that he had lost confidence in Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar and intended to dismiss him. Tens of thousands of people joined demonstrations in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv this week protesting against the sacking, which critics saw as an attempt to undermine state institutions.
“I’m looking at the end of the way of Israel as we knew it in the past. We are very concerned that these are the last days of Israel as a democracy,” said Uri Arnin, an entrepreneur who joined a protest outside Netanyahu’s Jerusalem residence.
“We are here to try and change this course, but the chances are not very high,” he said.
The Supreme Court ruling will allow the court to consider petitions launched against the dismissal, which was approved by cabinet late on Thursday, with a decision no later than April 8, a court statement said.
Campaigners behind the petition said there were clear concerns about the move to dismiss Bar and an investigation by Shin Bet into alleged financial ties between Qatar and aides in Netanyahu’s office. But they said the concerns were wider.
“This is not just about Ronen Bar, it’s not even just about alleged ties between Netanyahu’s inner circle and Qatar,” said Eliad Shraga, a lawyer and founder of the Movement for Quality Government, an “anti-corruption” group that filed a petition against Bar’s dismissal.
“This is really about Israeli democracy, it’s about the rule of law,” he said.
The dismissal of Bar followed more than two years of hostility between Netanyahu supporters and elements of the security and defense establishment that was worsened by blame over the failures that allowed Hamas’ Oct 7, 2023 attack, the worst security disaster in Israel’s history and the trigger for the war on Gaza.
Bar, who had been one of the main Israeli negotiators in ceasefire and hostage release talks, had already indicated he would resign before his term was due to end in about 18 months, accepting responsibility for Shin Bet’s failure to forestall the attack.
Netanyahu, with a secure majority in parliament and bolstered by the return of hardline “National Security Minister” Itamar Ben-Gvir, has been able to brush off the protests.
“There will be no civil war! The State of Israel is a state of law and according to the law, the Israeli government decides who will be the head of the Shin Bet,” Netanyahu wrote on social media platform X.
Former president of Israeli Supreme Court Aharon Barak said that he fears the government’s latest actions, including efforts to fire the Shin Bet chief and attorney general, are pushing the country to civil war.
Speaking to the Ynet news site about the moves by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Barak says that “the main problem is Israeli society is the eighth front,” a reference to Israel’s battles on seven fronts.
Source: Websites
