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France's Government Announced with Only One Major Change at Foreign Ministry

France's newly-appointed Prime Minister Gabriel Attal attends the evening news broadcast of French TV channel TF1 in Boulogne-Billancourt, outside Paris, on January 11, 2024. (Photo by JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP)
France's newly-appointed Prime Minister Gabriel Attal attends the evening news broadcast of French TV channel TF1 in Boulogne-Billancourt, outside Paris, on January 11, 2024. (Photo by JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP)
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France's Government Announced with Only One Major Change at Foreign Ministry

France's newly-appointed Prime Minister Gabriel Attal attends the evening news broadcast of French TV channel TF1 in Boulogne-Billancourt, outside Paris, on January 11, 2024. (Photo by JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP)
France's newly-appointed Prime Minister Gabriel Attal attends the evening news broadcast of French TV channel TF1 in Boulogne-Billancourt, outside Paris, on January 11, 2024. (Photo by JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP)

The new government of French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal was announced Thursday with only one major change at the foreign ministry.
The interior, finance, defense and justice ministers remain in place, according to the French presidency's statement. The members of the government were agreed upon by the 34-year-old Attal, who is France's youngest-ever premier, and centrist President Emmanuel Macron.
Stéphane Séjourné, 38, has been named as France's foreign affairs minister, succeeding Catherine Colonna.
Séjourné is the head of Macron’s Renaissance party and the leader of the Renew Europe group of liberal, pro-European lawmakers at the European Parliament.
Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra keeps her job less than six months before the Paris Olympics, and also gets the education portfolio — a role previously held by Attal.
The culture ministry goes to Rachida Dati, 58, a member of the conservative party. Dati, whose outspoken personality and flashy style has made her well known among the French, was a justice minister under conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Governments under Macron's presidency, since he was first elected in 2017, have included figures from both the right and the left.
But many observers saw a recent debate on an immigration bill as a symbol of the government’s shift to the right: Macron’s centrist alliance was able to pass the measure only after making a deal with the Republicans.
The new government spokesperson is Prisca Thevenot, 38, previously a junior minister in charge of the youth.
Attal was appointed Tuesday as the head of the government, with President Emmanuel Macron seeking a fresh start for the rest of his term amid growing political pressure from the far right.

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Netanyahu’s Move to Fire Security Agency Chief Threatens New Crisis in Israel

Ronen Bar, new chief of the Israel Security Agency (also known as Shabak or Shin Bet), enters a vehicle at an undisclosed location in central Israel on October 11, 2021. (AFP)
Ronen Bar, new chief of the Israel Security Agency (also known as Shabak or Shin Bet), enters a vehicle at an undisclosed location in central Israel on October 11, 2021. (AFP)
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Netanyahu’s Move to Fire Security Agency Chief Threatens New Crisis in Israel

Ronen Bar, new chief of the Israel Security Agency (also known as Shabak or Shin Bet), enters a vehicle at an undisclosed location in central Israel on October 11, 2021. (AFP)
Ronen Bar, new chief of the Israel Security Agency (also known as Shabak or Shin Bet), enters a vehicle at an undisclosed location in central Israel on October 11, 2021. (AFP)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's bid to dismiss a top security official has threatened to plunge Israel back into deep political crisis, with opponents on Monday organizing protests and a former court president warning against the "dangerous" move.

Netanyahu on Sunday cited an "ongoing lack of trust" as the reason for moving to sack Ronen Bar, head of the Shin Bet internal security agency, following a similar bid by the government to oust the attorney general.

Bar, who has been engaged in a public spat with Netanyahu in recent weeks over reforms to the agency, suggested there were political motives behind the premier's decision to ask the government to dismiss him.

Attorney General Gali Baharav Miara -- the executive's top legal adviser who has often taken positions that clashed with those of Netanyahu's government -- said the move was "unprecedented" and its legality needed to be assessed.

Bar said it stemmed from his own refusal to meet Netanyahu's demands for "personal loyalty".

The agency led by Bar has been accused of failing to prevent the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack that triggered war in the Gaza Strip.

Several opposition parties have already announced they will jointly petition the High Court against Bar's dismissal, and the attorney general said in a letter to Netanyahu that he could not initiate the process "until the factual and legal foundation of your decision is fully clarified".

Baharav Miara is herself under threat of a no-confidence motion submitted by Justice Minister Yariv Levin, who has spearheaded efforts to reform the judiciary and curb the court's powers -- a plan that sparked major protests before coming to an abrupt halt with Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack.

Levin has accused Baharav Miara, a fierce defendant of the judiciary's independence, of "inappropriate conduct" and cited "significant and prolonged disagreements between the government and the attorney general".

The proceeding against the two figures promise to be lengthy, risking a repeat of the 2023 protest movement that was one of the most significant in Israel's history and had deeply fractured the country.

- 'Blow to national security' -

The Kaplan Force, a liberal umbrella organization which led the fight against the judicial reform, on Monday announced rallies in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv this week to protest the dismissal of the Shin Bet head.

The move to sack Bar, who has been involved in negotiations over the fragile ceasefire in Gaza, comes at a crucial time for the talks.

The truce has largely held since January 19 despite an impasse in efforts to extend it.

Since the Gaza war began, Netanyahu has dismissed his defense minister, Yoav Gallant, while several senior military officials have resigned including army chief Herzi Halevi.

Benny Gantz, an opposition figure who once served as defense minister under Netanyahu, said on X that "the dismissal of the head of the Shin Bet is a direct blow to national security and a dismantling of unity within Israeli society, driven by political and personal considerations."

Former Supreme Court president Dorit Beinisch told Kan public radio that Netanyahu was leading "processes that are dangerous for society".

"We need to wake up, and to wake up in time," she said.

- 'Power-grab' -

For Netanyahu's allies, the move against Bar falls within the normal rights of the head of government.

"In what normal country is a special reason even needed to remove the head of an intelligence organization who is personally responsible for a massive intelligence failure that led to the greatest disaster in the history of Israel?" far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich wrote on Telegram.

Nahum Barnea, columnist for the daily Yedioth Ahronoth, warned of the dangers stemming from the clash between Netanyahu and Bar.

"A prime minister who has lost his brakes will rule as he sees fit, and his failed government will follow in his wake," he wrote.

"It is gradually inching us closer to a form of civil war... in which there is no trust and a refusal to obey in security organizations".

For Amir Tibon, writing for the left-wing daily Haaretz, "Israeli democracy is now in grave danger".

"It's up to Israelis to decide if they'll accept Netanyahu's hostile power-grab -- and how far they will go to stop it".