Minister Bezalel Smotrich comes out, in a special column, against the attempt to force the government to appoint the head of the Shin Bet - a record that illustrates the absurdity of the court's disconnect from reality:
""There is no authority without responsibility and there is no responsibility without authority." This is the first maxim in any system that desires life, and it is the heart of the debate surrounding the legal coup that has been carried out here in recent decades and has led to an absurd disconnect between authority and responsibility. A disconnect that is now reaching an extreme point around the forced continuation of Ronen Bar's tenure as head of the Shin Bet.
Today, the important security hearing that was supposed to take place on Tuesday was canceled. Today's hearing took place without the participation of the head of the Shin Bet on behalf of the High Court, and was good, important, and useful.
Want more news, videos and stories? Join the Haredim 10 WhatsApp channel >>
There were those in the media who framed my announcement on Tuesday that I would not participate in the hearing if the head of the Shin Bet was invited on behalf of the High Court as a "boycott" of Ronen Bar. But that's really not the point, and I would like to explain my intention:
Let's start with the fact that Ronen Bar is the head of the Shin Bet who failed colossally in his role. He is personally responsible for the greatest disaster in the history of the State of Israel. He heads the intelligence organization that was supposed to provide the warning of a Hamas attack, and for three years he fell asleep on guard and allowed the great strategic deception that Sinwar perpetrated on the State of Israel. Ronen Bar received indications on the night between the sixth and seventh of October of any occurrence in the Gaza Strip and made the wrong decision to continue with routine, not to mobilize forces and not to wake anyone at the political level, a decision that cost us 1,200 civilians who were murdered, butchered, raped and burned in the terrible massacre committed by Hamas, and 250 kidnapped people, some of whom are still groaning in the tunnels in Gaza in Hamas captivity.
If he had any self-respect, integrity, or responsibility, he would have returned the keys on his own initiative in shame on October 8th and since then has been locked up in his house without putting his nose out until his last day. In a civilized country, if he had not done this on his own, the political echelon would have immediately ousted him. In President Biden's US, it took the head of the Secret Service 3 days after the attempted assassination of Trump to hand over the keys and take responsibility for the failure.
Instead, Bar clings to the horns of the altar with arrogance and arrogance, as if he is the state, as if if he leaves the service will collapse, as if the responsibility falls on the whole world except him. Bar is rewriting history with fabricated investigations and is now imposing himself on the elected political echelon with the violence of the Legal Counsel to the Government and the High Court. Bar is causing a huge injustice to thousands of dedicated General Security Service employees who do sacred work for the security of Israel, dragging them against their will into the center of a public storm, using them as a tool and turning them into hostages in his personal struggle, shaking them and the organization and seriously damaging the public's trust in the organization.
But on the flip side, this moment could become a defining moment, a moment when daring comes out sweet, a moment when the law and lawyers will be forced to understand the limits of power. A moment when everyone will understand that the law may be able to impose technique, it simply cannot impose essence.
After the entire government unanimously expressed a lack of confidence in the head of the Shin Bet and decided to end his term on the basis of an explicit law that states that the government is authorized to do so, the power-drunk High Court judges issued an interim order that forces the government to continue Ronen Bar's term. From this moment on, Ronen Bar is the head of the Shin Bet under the auspices of the High Court. He continues to receive a paycheck as the head of the Shin Bet, on the door of his office at the organization's headquarters there is a sign that says "Head of the Shin Bet", he has a driver and a car like the head of the Shin Bet. But oh well. The court cannot impose trust and interpersonal relationships. It cannot force me to listen to him, to take him seriously in making decisions, to trust him and to place my trust in him. I have no trust in the head of the Shin Bet, I believe he is a resounding security failure and democratic understanding is beyond him. There is no judge in the world who can force me to trust him, to have good interpersonal working relationships with him, to rely on him, and to make decisions with him.
The Supreme Court justices, as usual, run away from decisions and responsibility and do not issue a ruling. They sent the government and the advisor to "talk" and pull the chestnuts out of the fire. On the eve of the holiday, I suggested to the Prime Minister that he inform the High Court that he demands a ruling here and now. I suggested that he announce that he is removing responsibility from the Shin Bet and transferring it to the court. That the judges take responsibility. If they want authority, they should understand that it comes in one package with heavy responsibility. That they should inform us who the head of the Shin Bet is from their perspective, until when he will serve and who will replace him. That they should schedule regular work meetings with him, receive an account from him and supervise his activities to thwart terrorism, and that he be funded from the Supreme Court budget. All this, until they announce that they are returning responsibility to us and with it the authority to dismiss a failed Shin Bet head who has failed and appoint a Shin Bet head whom we trust to lead the organization.
The prime minister decided otherwise, and I respect his decision, but I do not intend to work anymore with the head of the Shin Bet on behalf of the High Court, in whom I simply have no confidence.
Now, if the court wants to force me, then let it give me clear instructions:
And of course they have no way of doing this, and therefore they will have no choice but to decide that it is simply impossible to force a government to continue to go through with the head of the Shin Bet in whom it has no confidence. They may think that we are the most wrong in the world, and there are still things that they have no ability to force. Just as the law cannot force the sun to shine in the West, just as it cannot force couples to continue living together in love and trust, it cannot force a government to fulfill its responsibility for Israel's security through failed people who push us over the edge again and again and again. The attempt to force the government to have the head of the Shin Bet serve is another peak of absurdity that illustrates the court's disconnect from reality.
So I have no intention of sitting with Bar in the discussions. If he comes to cabinet discussions (which were stipulated by law and supposedly the High Court forced him to be invited) I will leave when he speaks. As far as I'm concerned, starting on the 10th of this month, he is the head of the Shin Bet on behalf of the High Court, and the arrogant High Court judges are invited to sit with him and discuss with him any issue they see fit.
I very much hope that the government will soon be able to appoint a new head for this all-important organization, a head who understands security and intelligence, but also democracy, a head who will heal the organization, embrace its people, restore their trust, and lead them in the face of the great security challenges facing the State of Israel.
