The Knesset's opposition parties - Yesh Atid, National Unity, Yisrael Beytenu, and the Democrats - on Friday morning submitted an appeal to the Supreme Court, demanding that the court issue an order against the dismissal of Israel Security Agency (ISA, or Shin Bet) chief Ronen Bar.
"This is a decision which was made with a severe conflict of interests on the part of the Prime Minister, on the basis of foreign considerations connected to the ISA's investigations into the Prime Minister's Office and the ISA's position as it was recently published, stating that the political echelon bears responsibility for the October 7 massacre," the appeal claimed.
"This urgent initiative to fire the ISA chief, at this time, during the fighting, is being done as the ISA investigates those close to the Prime Minister, who have worked with him for years, and who are familiar with every single part of his life, on suspicion that they received money from sources directly connected to and working for the country of Qatar - the same country which financed the Hamas terror group which unleashed on the State of Israel and the Jewish nation the greatest disaster since the Holocaust.
"The dismissal initiated was done only after the ISA investigation to investigate the October 7 massacre, which clearly indicated the responsibility that the political echelon bears for the disaster. The weight of this is even greater during a time when the Prime Minister is preventing the formation of a governmental investigative committee," the appeal stressed.
The ISA informed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of the massacre just ten minutes before it happened,
Earlier this month, the Shin Bet (ISA) published the main points of its October 7 investigation, revealing critical failures that led to the organization's failure to warn of the Hamas attack and prevent the massacre.
According to the investigation, Shin Bet did not recognize the impending Hamas attack as a large-scale and widespread attack until the moment of the breakout, thus failing in its mission to provide a warning. The intelligence that was accumulated was not properly analyzed, and the organization did not attach sufficient weight to signs indicating an impending attack.
The government approved the dismissal of Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) chief Ronen Bar during its meeting early Friday morning.
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 chief Ronen Bar."
"Ronen Bar will conclude his role as Shin Bet chief on April 10, 2025, or when a permanent Shin Bet chief is appointed — whichever comes first," the statement added.
The original proposal stipulated that the dismissal would take effect within 30 days or upon the selection of Bar's successor. Later, the ministers also considered the possibility that the dismissal would take effect in one week, on March 28.
