Israeli spy chief accuses Netanyahu of demanding illegal operations

Ronen Bar fires latest salvo in ongoing showdown with Israeli PM that has divided country.

Israel’s spy chief has accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of trying to fire him for his refusal to commit illegal acts aimed at protecting the leader’s personal and political interests.

Ronen Bar, chief of Shin Bet, Israel’s domestic intelligence service, made the assertion in an affidavit to the Supreme Court on Monday. Netanyahu’s move last month to dismiss Bar was suspended by the court pending an investigation, and the ensuing tussle has provoked large protests, with crowds accusing the prime minister of endangering democracy.

Netanyahu said he would sack the spy chief due to a breakdown in trust, supposedly linked to Hamas’s attack in October 2023 that led to the Gaza war.

However, Bar said Netanyahu’s decision was motivated by a series of events between November 2024 and February 2025.

In the unclassified part of the court submission, Bar said Netanyahu had told him “on more than one occasion” that he expected Shin Bet to take action against Israelis involved in antigovernment demonstrations, “with a particular focus on monitoring the protests’ financial backers”.

The Shin Bet head also said he had refused to sign off on a security request aimed at relieving Netanyahu from testifying at an ongoing corruption trial in which he faces charges of bribery, fraud and breach of public trust.

Netanyahu’s bid to oust Bar came as Shin Bet was investigating financial ties between the prime minister’s office and Qatar, a key mediator in the Gaza war. Critics say the firing is tainted by a conflict of interest and was meant to derail that inquiry.

Shin Bet also happened to be carrying out an inquiry based on suspicion that the government had ignored warnings in advance of Hamas’s attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, when the armed Palestinian group killed more than 1,100 people and took about 250 captive.

More than 50 of them remain in Gaza. Netanyahu and the hardline Zionist parties that support his government have faced harsh criticism for their failure to agree to a ceasefire and the return of the remaining prisoners.

Israel’s onslaught on Gaza has killed more than 51,000 people, according to the enclave’s Ministry of Health.

Netanyahu’s office has said Bar’s affidavit was “full of lies”, and later responded to several of his claims, stating that he had “failed miserably” when Hamas attacked Israel.

It also denied that the move to sack Bar was aimed at thwarting the so-called “Qatargate” investigation.

“The dismissal was not intended to prevent the investigation. Rather, the investigation was intended to prevent the dismissal,” it said.

Netanyahu’s move to sack Bar was suspended by the Supreme Court after political watchdogs and opposition lawmakers argued the dismissal was unlawful.

The bid to unseat the spy chief and the continuing fight have further fuelled the protests over the government’s failure to secure the captives from Gaza.

Bar has accepted Shin Bet’s failure to stop Hamas’s attack, saying on Monday that he would “soon announce the date of my resignation”.

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Al Jazeera and news agencies