The government approved the dismissal of Shin Bet head Ronen Bar at its meeting tonight (Friday night).
The Prime Minister's Office stated: "The government has now unanimously approved Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's proposal to terminate the tenure of Shin Bet head Ronen Bar.
""Ronen Bar will end his position as head of the Shin Bet on April 10, 2025 or when a permanent Shin Bet head is appointed - whichever comes first.".
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The original proposal stipulated that the dismissals would take effect within 30 days or when Barr's replacement was chosen. Later, the possibility that the dismissals would take effect in a week, on March 28, was also considered.
In an official response given after the approval, a political source sharply attacked Bar, claiming that he had lost the government's trust: "The Israeli government, which is in charge of the Shin Bet, has lost all trust in Ronen Bar, who continues to cling to his seat while cynically using the families of the kidnapped and politically improperly using his position to fabricate futile, unfounded investigations.".
The source added that Bar had the opportunity to retire with honor after the events of the October 7 attacks, but he avoided it. "Ronen had the opportunity to retire with honor after his searing failure in the October 7 attacks, as the outgoing Chief of Staff did. But Ronen Bar preferred not to attend the government meeting that dealt with his case, simply because he was afraid of giving answers and especially of answering one question: Why, after you knew about the Hamas attack many hours before it happened, did you do nothing and did not call the Prime Minister - something that would have prevented the disaster?".
According to the same source, "If Ronen Bar had performed his duties as he is currently holding onto his seat, we would not have reached the 7th of October.".
Prime Minister Netanyahu emphasized at the meeting: "I no longer trust Ronen Bar. On a professional level, that's clear. It all started that night. I also don't believe in his approach. I don't trust him. I don't trust him to talk to me at a crucial moment.".
""It is unacceptable for a serving Shin Bet head to publicly promote one of the options for an investigative committee. In the IDF, the window of opportunity was used to change command. We need to take advantage of this here as well and approve it.".
Netanyahu added: "It is clear that if there is a fundamental distrust of the prime minister in the head of the Shin Bet, such a situation cannot continue. This is true for every democratic country, and especially for a democratic country like ours.".
He said, "I don't believe that Ronen Bar is the right man to rehabilitate the organization. You know that night of the Sabbath in October, and even in managing the negotiations, I came to the conclusion that Ronen Bar is simply not suited for this. I have been managing diplomatic negotiations for many years. He had a soft approach and not aggressive enough. I said to the cabinet: 'Be more aggressive. You surrender too quickly - and therefore we will receive fewer hostages.' I sat with him for hours, and it proved to me that he is not suited for this.".
Netanyahu added: "Two months ago, I replaced the negotiating team. I appointed the deputy head of the Shin Bet to head the delegation because I did not trust Ronen Bar. Since then, the leaks have decreased dramatically, and in very successful negotiations we managed to return the hostages.".
Minister Ben Gvir revealed at the meeting: "During my term, I noticed something strange. Every week, two Shin Bet representatives show up for the security situation assessments at the Ministry of National Security. They are present for the entire meeting, but they do not speak here.".
""One day I turned to one of them and asked him why you don't speak, don't give a review, an opinion. His answer stunned me: We weren't sent to speak, but only to write down what you say in the meeting. You see, the head of a secret service sends representatives to spy on and monitor an elected official. This man is a direct threat to democracy. He is the same head of the Shin Bet who would also stand up and walk out of cabinet discussions when I spoke. He doesn't recognize democracy, doesn't recognize the authority of the government and the prime minister, and he is the greatest danger to democracy.".
Minister Shlomo Kari added: "The head of the Shin Bet who holds the chair by force is no different from a pilot who refuses an order. Without the support of the commander, with whom, according to media reports, there is a deep friendship - about which we have not yet received proper disclosure - he would not have had the audacity to act like the last of the chaplains.".
Minister Gideon Sa'ar noted that Bar erred once again when he did not come to talk to the government but instead sent a defiant letter. "The head of the Shin Bet writes in his letter that he will present his detailed position in the appropriate forum. What is the appropriate forum? This is the appropriate forum! The forum that the law gave him the authority to do so.".
Sa'ar also addressed the criticism at the meeting about the government's realization of its responsibility for its part on October 7: "The government is responsible to the Knesset and serves by virtue of faith. It stands this test every week. The government can be replaced in one of two ways - through democratic elections by the people or through a vote of no confidence by the Knesset.".
Minister Ze'ev Elkin said that he had planned to speak at the meeting about the failures of October 7, but "there is no meaning to what I wanted to say after seeing Bar's amazing letter, which in fact constitutes a complete denial of the idea of the subordination of the security echelon to the political echelon.".
Former Shin Bet chief, Minister Avi Dichter, voted at the government meeting in favor of removing Ronen Bar from his position. "The prime minister said in an honest, harsh and sad way that he has no confidence in the Shin Bet chief. Unlike an institution that has operational aspects, the Shin Bet also has personal aspects related to the prime minister - the Shin Bet chief is responsible for the prime minister's personal security. Therefore, all other things are irrelevant at all. In a situation of lack of confidence, there are two options: either the Shin Bet chief resigns, or he is fired. And if he doesn't resign, then he is fired.".
