Ben-Gvir Accuses Israel’s Shin Bet Chief of Attempting a ‘Coup’

Police clash with demonstrators during a protest against moves by the Israeli government to fire the Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara and Shin Bet head Ronen Bar in Jerusalem, March 23, 2025. (Reuters)
Police clash with demonstrators during a protest against moves by the Israeli government to fire the Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara and Shin Bet head Ronen Bar in Jerusalem, March 23, 2025. (Reuters)
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Ben-Gvir Accuses Israel’s Shin Bet Chief of Attempting a ‘Coup’

Police clash with demonstrators during a protest against moves by the Israeli government to fire the Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara and Shin Bet head Ronen Bar in Jerusalem, March 23, 2025. (Reuters)
Police clash with demonstrators during a protest against moves by the Israeli government to fire the Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara and Shin Bet head Ronen Bar in Jerusalem, March 23, 2025. (Reuters)

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir on Monday lashed out at Shin Bet head Ronen Bar and accused him of spying on him and on the heads of the Israel Prison Service and Israel Police in order to launch a “coup.”

For the past weeks, Israel has been mired with political disputes between Bar and the hardliners in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, which voted to oust the Shin Bet chief.

Israel's Supreme Court has frozen the government's dismissal of head of the country's internal security service.

The rift between the two sides deepened when Israeli media said last Sunday that the Shin Bet conducted a covert inquiry into the possible infiltration of extreme-right elements into the Israel Police following suspected political meddling in the force by Ben-Gvir, who is in charge of the police.

The Shin Bet’s investigation began in September, a Channel 12 news report said, presenting what it said was a typed note dated September 26, 2024, from Bar in which he said that the agency had “marked the infiltration of Kahanism into the law enforcement agencies as a dangerous phenomenon whose prevention is part of the Shin Bet’s mission.”

In his note, Bar gave instructions “to collect evidence and testimony of the involvement of political elements” in law enforcement work and specifically for “unlawfully exerting force,” the report added.

Ahead of his far-right Otzma Yehudit party’s weekly faction meeting in the Knesset on Monday, Ben-Gvir said that Bar should be incarcerated.

“Ronen Bar conspired against the democratic state, he ordered the collection of incriminating information against a government minister. He is a criminal, a danger to democracy, and he belongs in prison,” Ben-Gvir said.

“It’s no longer a question of impeachment; Ronen Bar should sit in prison,” he added. “In any normal country, he’d be in solitary confinement right now on suspicion of attempting a coup.”

On Monday, Netanyahu’s office quickly said it was unaware of the investigation and had not ordered the Shin Bet chief to conduct a secret probe against Ben-Gvir.

In a statement, it said, “The prime minister was never informed by the Shin Bet chief that he intended to collect evidence on the political echelon behind his back,” adding that the premier “did not give permission for this.”

In return, the Shin Bet denied there had been any investigation against the police or politicians, but it did not rule out that the agency was looking into the matter.

According to Ynet news, Bar told Netanyahu last June about his suspicions about the infiltration of far-right Kahanist figures into the police.

“The prime minister unequivocally instructed the Shin Bet chief to present to him support for this claim, to raise it directly and immediately with the national security minister, and in no way to act behind the minister’s back,” it said.

Bar told ministers on Sunday night that the ongoing accusations against him would lead them to execute him, according to quotes reported by Channel 12. “Yesterday you accused me of treason, today you are threatening to send me to jail, tomorrow you will execute me,” he said.

Last Thursday, Israeli police deployed a water cannon and made several arrests as protests against Netanyahu's move to oust the head of the domestic intelligence service flared.

Meanwhile, the High Court of Justice on Sunday set April 8 as the date to hear petitions against the government’s decision to fire Bar.



Iran FM Araghchi Arrives in Oman Ahead of Nuclear Talks with US

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrives ahead of negotiations with the US, in Muscat, Oman, April 25, 2025. Iranian Foreign Ministry/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via Reuters
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrives ahead of negotiations with the US, in Muscat, Oman, April 25, 2025. Iranian Foreign Ministry/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via Reuters
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Iran FM Araghchi Arrives in Oman Ahead of Nuclear Talks with US

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrives ahead of negotiations with the US, in Muscat, Oman, April 25, 2025. Iranian Foreign Ministry/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via Reuters
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrives ahead of negotiations with the US, in Muscat, Oman, April 25, 2025. Iranian Foreign Ministry/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via Reuters

Iran's top diplomat Abbas Araghchi arrived in Oman on Friday ahead of fresh nuclear talks with the United States, after both sides said progress had been made in previous rounds.

Foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei posted on X that "Araghchi and his accompanying delegation arrived in Muscat for the third round of Iran-US talks".

Iran's Mehr news agency released a brief video showing the foreign minister disembarking from an Iranian government plane in Muscat.

Baqaei said Araghchi would be leading the delegation of diplomats and technical experts in the indirect discussions with the US side.

US President Donald Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, will represent the United States in the talks.

The latest round will include expert-level talks on Iran's nuclear program, with Michael Anton, who serves as the State Department's head of policy planning, leading the technical discussions on the US side, the department said.

Iran's Tasnim news agency reported that deputy foreign ministers Kazem Gharibabadi and Majid Takht-Ravanchi will lead the Iranian technical team.

Baqaei wrote on X that Iran's delegation is "resolved to secure our nation's legitimate and lawful right to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes while taking reasonable steps to demonstrate that our program is entirely peaceful".

"Termination of unlawful and inhumane sanctions in an objective and speedy manner is a priority that we seek to achieve," he added.

According to Baqaei, the dialogue will again be mediated by Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi on Saturday morning.

The meeting follows two earlier rounds of Omani-mediated negotiations in Muscat and Rome starting on April 12.

- Calling for 'goodwill' -

Since his return to office in January, Trump has reimposed sweeping sanctions under his policy of "maximum pressure" against Tehran.

In March, he sent a letter to Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei calling for talks but warning of possible military action if they failed to produce a deal.

Western countries including the United States have long accused Iran of seeking to acquire nuclear weapons -- an allegation Tehran has consistently denied, insisting that its program is for peaceful civilian purposes.

Baqaei earlier Friday said "progress in the negotiations requires the demonstration of goodwill, seriousness, and realism by the other side".

Iran will treat Saturday's talks seriously, Araghchi said in a recent interview, "and if the other party also enters seriously, there is potential for progress".

In 2018, Trump withdrew the United States from a nuclear deal signed three years earlier between Tehran and major world powers. The agreement eased sanctions on Iran in return for curbs on its nuclear program.

After Trump's pullout, Tehran complied with the agreement for a year before scaling back its compliance.

Iran currently enriches uranium up to 60 percent, far above the 3.67 percent limit in the 2015 deal but still below the 90 percent threshold required for weapons-grade material.

In an interview published by Time Magazine on Friday, Trump said the United States will "lead the pack" in attacking Iran if nuclear talks do not lead to a new deal.

But he expressed hope that an agreement could be reached and said he would be willing to meet Khamenei.