Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday publicly accused the pinnacle of Israel’s home safety company of mendacity to the nation’s high courtroom, the most recent twist in a authorized battle over Mr. Netanyahu’s try to fireplace the safety chief, Ronen Bar.
In an acerbic 13-page affidavit defending his resolution to take away Mr. Bar, who leads the Shin Wager, Mr. Netanyahu sought to rebut beautiful allegations that Mr. Bar made in opposition to the prime minister in an equally scathing affidavit that Mr. Bar submitted final week to Israel’s Supreme Courtroom.
The extraordinary alternate of recriminations got here as a part of a case introduced by Israeli watchdog organizations and opposition events in opposition to Mr. Netanyahu’s resolution to oust Mr. Bar, along with his authorities’s full approval, citing a scarcity of belief between them.
Mr. Bar has stated that the choice to take away him stemmed not from skilled concerns, however from “an expectation of non-public loyalty.”
The case has roiled Israel, epitomizing a long-running home disaster that pits Mr. Netanyahu’s hard-line, right-wing supporters in opposition to extra liberal Israelis over the steadiness of energy between branches of presidency and the character of Israeli democracy.
To have the ability to rule on the validity of Mr. Bar’s ouster, the courtroom would possibly now need to resolve which conflicting affidavit is extra credible. Alternatively, the justices might try for a compromise, with an agreed-upon date for Mr. Bar to step down.
Mr. Bar had accused Mr. Netanyahu of inserting private loyalty above respect for the rulings of the Supreme Courtroom ought to a constitutional disaster happen. He additionally stated that the prime minister had pressed for the improper use of the Shin Wager’s powers to spy on Israeli residents who had led or funded antigovernment protests.
Mr. Bar stated he had been requested to signal an opinion — drafted by Mr. Netanyahu or his aides and based mostly on what Mr. Bar recommended have been spurious safety arguments — that will have hampered the progress of an ongoing corruption trial that entails the prime minister. Mr. Netanyahu is charged with bribery, fraud and breach of belief, accused of offering rich supporters with regulatory favors in alternate for illicit presents and favorable media protection. In his personal affidavit, Mr. Netanyahu rebuffed these assertions, utilizing his authority to again up a few of his arguments with chosen quotations from transcripts of confidential conferences and experiences that will ordinarily be labeled for many years.
Relating to his trial, Mr. Netanyahu stated he had merely requested Mr. Bar to offer an pressing safety plan for his safety whereas testifying in courtroom after Hezbollah, the Lebanese militia, launched a drone that broken the Netanyahu household’s dwelling within the Israeli seaside city of Caesarea.
Mr. Netanyahu argued that he didn’t wish to delay giving testimony however solely wished the courtroom hearings to be moved to a safer location.
He described the declare that Mr. Bar was requested to spy on the leaders of official protests as “an entire lie,” saying he was involved solely about cases of violence and harassment of public figures. Hitting again at Mr. Bar, Mr. Netanyahu accused the Shin Wager of getting no qualms about overstepping its authorities when it got here to chasing far-right activists.
Mr. Netanyahu didn’t explicitly deny Mr. Bar’s claims concerning the demand for loyalty within the occasion of a constitutional conflict between the Supreme Courtroom and the federal government, however Mr. Netanyahu stated Mr. Bar had worded the grievance in a different way within the labeled a part of his affidavit.
In an in depth response on Sunday, issued hours after Mr. Netanyahu launched his affidavit, Mr. Bar stated it was “riddled with inaccuracies, slanted quotes and half-truths supposed to distort the context and alter actuality.”
Mr. Bar had traced Mr. Netanyahu’s lack of belief and want to dismiss him again to a sequence of strikes the safety chief made in late 2024 and early 2025, together with his resolution to analyze Netanyahu aides suspected of safety breaches in circumstances involving the leaking of labeled paperwork and ties to Qatar.
Mr. Netanyahu contends in his affidavit that he misplaced all confidence in Mr. Bar on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas mounted its lethal shock assault on southern Israel, igniting the devastating battle in Gaza. Blaming Mr. Bar for not foreseeing or stopping the assault, Mr. Netanyahu stated he was chargeable for what he referred to as “the largest intelligence failure in Israel’s historical past.”
Mr. Netanyahu wrote, “You would need to rub your eyes to consider” the suggestions issued by Mr. Bar shortly earlier than the assault, following some worrying indicators of Hamas exercise in Gaza.
Mr. Bar had suggested in opposition to any broad Israeli actions that would result in a “miscalculation,” Mr. Netanyahu revealed, sticking to what he described as a mistaken safety idea of “preserving quiet in Gaza at any value.” (Mr. Netanyahu had additionally lengthy subscribed to this coverage, in line with Mr. Bar.)
“Whereas Ronen Bar was stopping actions out of worry of setting off a battle, Hamas had already began a battle!” Mr. Netanyahu wrote in his affidavit.
Mr. Netanyahu additionally rejected Mr. Bar’s declare that he had warned of battle within the 12 months earlier than the Hamas-led assault, quoting snippets from transcripts of conferences and intelligence experiences through which Mr. Bar stated that Gaza was “deterred” and that Hamas’s leaders weren’t trying to begin a battle.
Mr. Bar had stated lengthy earlier than Mr. Netanyahu’s resolution to fireplace him that he would resign at an acceptable time as a part of taking accountability for the intelligence failure.
