Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is looking to fire Ronen Bar, the current Director of Shin Bet. Israel’s attorney general has blocked this move, however, as the security agency is currently investigating Netanyahu’s aides over accusations of bribery related to hostage negotiations.

From The Jerusalem Post. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday night said he will propose to the cabinet to fire Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) Director Ronen Bar about 18 months before his term expires.

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Bar is probing several top aides of Netanyahu who are involved in “Qatargate,” a saga in which they allegedly were paid by Qatar at the same time as handling sensitive hostage negotiations policy for the prime minister also connected to Qatar.

Normally, the police investigate alleged crimes, but given the national security dimensions, the Shin Bet has taken the lead. …

Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara late Sunday night sent a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blocking him from firing Shin Bet Chief Ronen Bar until the agency’s probe of Qatargate is complete.

Although the prime minister does have sole control of the selection of the Shin Bet chief, the attorney-general wrote that the essence of the position is apolitical, and not a loyalty appointment such as most other political positions within the prime minister’s office.

A key related issue would be if Netanyahu picks Bar’s recent deputy, “M.,” which would restore a sense of professionalism and non-politicization to the outcome of the saga. The Post has confirmed with Shin Bet sources that M. is highly respected within the agency.

In fact, Netanyahu replaced Bar with M. on the negotiating team with Qatar and Hamas regarding the Israeli hostages about a month ago, seeming to signal that he was trying him out as Bar’s successor.

If Netanyahu recruits a new head from outside the organization, however, whether the new director is accepted could depend on having strong defense qualifications, such as a top IDF general, and whether the candidate is viewed as an independent actor uninfluenced by politics or a less-qualified individual who is getting a promotion to be a figurehead, as many defense official view current Israel Police Insp.-Gen. Daniel Levi.

Although Netanyahu framed his decision as part of a “continued lack of trust” in Bar, he did not address Qatargate in his statement.

Last week, Netanyahu urged Bar to resign from his position, but Bar refused. …

According to Bar, Netanyahu has multiple times endangered the lives of Israeli hostages by continuing the war in an effort to maintain his coalition, taking into consideration Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich’s threat to quit the government if the war ends.

Furthermore , Bar has said the Shin Bet took responsibility for its numerous and vast October 7 massacre failures to block Hamas’s invasion, but that Netanyahu has prevented any attempt to probe his decisions and responsibility for the colossal failure. …

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(Excerpt from The Jerusalem Post. Photo Credit: DedaSasha – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=146136525)