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.
