In politics, there are and that only end up exploding with delayed effect. This is what happened at the last minute of this Sunday in Israel, announcing the prime minister, Benjamín Netanyahu, his intention to fire Ronen Bar, head of the Shin Bet (the secret services in Israel and Palestine), just when he investigates whether several advisors of Netanyahu charged to favor the interests of Qatar, one of Hamas’s scarce allies. If consummated, someone will be the first dismissal in that position in the seven decades of history of the country.
Bar has responded by accusing Netanyahu to confuse service to the State with “personal loyalty.” The Jewish parties in the opposition have urgently called a meeting to design a joint reaction, while the social movements opposed to Netanyahu have called protests for Wednesday, the day the government will vote the proposal. The issue is based on the cross signaling (sometimes in public, sometimes due to press leaks) on the responsibility for Hamas’s attack in October 2023 between the political dome (which has been clinging to the armchair) and the security services, which have sung the my guilt And of those that Netanyahu has been getting rid of one after another.
The Israeli prime minister has justified his decision in a “continuous distrust” towards Bar, which “has only grows over time.” “I am convinced that this step is crucial to restore the organization, achieve all our war goals and prevent the next tragedy,” he said, in a clear rejón as head of an organism that lacked solid intelligence information in Gaza and that.
Bar has counteratacious in a statement in which he underlines that “the duty of trust of the director of the Shin Bet is, above all, towards the citizens of Israel”, not towards Netanyahu, which are “fundamentally wrong and directly contravene the statutes of the organization.
The legal advisor of the Government, Gali Baharav-Miara (a technical position of great weight to which the Executive has been ninguneando for years) has been opposed to the measure “until its factual and legal foundations are clarified” and the authority of Netanyahu to do so, given the potential conflict of interest. In a letter, remember that “the head of the Shin Bet is not a position of personal trusted of the prime minister”, although it depends directly on his office, and underlines “the extraordinary sensitivity of the matter, its unprecedented nature and the concern that the process could be stained by the illegality and a conflict of interest.”
The leaders of the main Jewish parties of the opposition (Yesh Atid, National Unity, Israel Beitenu and the Democrats) will meet this Monday to discuss how to stop the dismissal. They have not invited the formations that represent the Palestinian minority with Israeli citizenship, a fifth of the country’s population. The right has come out in Tromba, on the contrary, in defense of the decision, such as the Minister of Finance, Bezalel Smotrich, who believes that Netanyahu should have taken it the day after Hamas’s attack and accuses Head of the Shin Bet of “clinging to the seat with arrogance and contempt.”
In the position since 2021, Bar is one of the last controls of the security services that remains in the position from the attack of Hamas, which ended with 1,200 dead and more than 250 hostages, although he had advanced that he will assume his responsibility for the sound failure of the Shin Bet to anticipate it. Netanyahu has been dispensed with the rest or have resigned, particularly since last November. It is the case of the previous one; or of the former chief of the General Staff, Herzi Halevi, whose dismissal asked for the ultra -right to put someone harder for the resumption of the war in Gaza.
Investigation Commission
In these 528 days, Netanyahu, on the other hand, has not only refused to resign, but also to call early elections (as the majority of the population wants, according to the surveys), assume their responsibility or create a parliamentary commission of research on the mistakes of that day and the previous policies that facilitated it. A vignette in the newspaper Yediot Aharonot Caricaturiza the situation on Monday, by showing Netanyahu playing English hide and hiding place with bar, Halevi and Gallant while pronouncing the phrase “who is behind me or my side, is responsible. One, two and three… ”in front of a tree with inscription 7.10, in reference to the date of the Hamas attack.
In his investigation, released two weeks ago, Shin Bet pointed to Netyahu’s responsibility for allowing Qatar to deliver funds to the Hamas government in Gaza (which Doha denies and insists that Israel was aware of everything). It is one of the most present reproaches in the demonstrations against him and one of the spotlights of the launch of mud between the political and the military.
In fact, in its reaction to the announcement of dismissal, Bar implicitly defends the creation of the Investigation Commission, underlining the “need to interrogate all parties, including the government’s policy and the prime minister, and not only to the Armed Forces and the Shin Bet, which threatened themselves exhaustively”. The army has asked for forgiveness for taking hours to go to an area located a few tens of kilometers from the operations center.
Netanyahu has been arguing that a new electoral call (although with difficulties to reissue its coalition, according to all polls since last summer) would mean “an award to Hamas”, by fragmenting the country in times of war, and that the necessary debate on responsibilities must wait for it to end. But few understand what that expression sixteen months later means, with daily threats to resume bombings on Gaza, even more strongly, and a fragile high technically in force, but with a disturbing future. Netanyahu – also imputed in three cases of corruption, bribery and abuse of power – to keep his coalition with ultra -nationalists and ultra -orthodox, the most right -wing since the creation of Israel, in 1948.
