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Netanyahu Fires Israeli Intelligence Chief, Deepening Domestic Turmoil

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WSJ

Mar 21, 2025 10:41 AM IST

The Israeli leader tightens grip on government and hostage talks with latest ouster.

Shin Bet Director Ronen Bar was a key player in the negotiations with Hamas to free the remaining hostages and reach a cease-fire.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired his domestic intelligence chief, extending a purge of rivals in the security establishment while further overhauling the cabinet that presided during the devastating Oct. 7, 2023, attacks.

Netanyahu Fires Israeli Intelligence Chief, Deepening Domestic Turmoil PREMIUM

Netanyahu Fires Israeli Intelligence Chief, Deepening Domestic Turmoil

Netanyahu convened his ministers Thursday for a vote to remove Shin Bet Director Ronen Bar after arguing that the spy chief had lost his trust. The move, which the prime minister had signaled last weekend, was controversial because the Shin Bet is currently investigating some of Netanyahu’s aides. Bar was also a key player in the negotiations with Hamas to free the remaining hostages and reach a cease-fire, and his ouster gives Netanyahu’s close aides a tighter grip over the talks.

Israel’s resumption of a military campaign in Gaza this week has stoked fresh worries over the fate of the hostages.

Thousands of protesters marched in Jerusalem on Thursday outside Netanyahu’s home to oppose Bar’s dismissal and demand elections. Police used water cannons to disperse some of the demonstrators.

Netanyahu shook off those public concerns, protests this week over the expected firing and objections raised by Israel’s attorney general to proceed with the dismissal. It followed an earlier removal of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, another rival in the security services, and the pushing out of Herzi Halevi, who headed the country’s military. Several other senior military commanders and officials have stepped down since the intelligence failures of Oct. 7.

Bar, in a letter sent to ministers on Thursday, said his dismissal was designed to prevent his agency from fulfilling its duty and preventing it from investigating thoroughly the reasons of Israel’s failure to prevent Hamas’s Oct 7. attacks, as well as other serious incidents. He also said his removal from the negotiating team harmed efforts to free the hostages.

“The government is seeking to take steps that will weaken the [the state], internally and against enemies,” Bar warned.

Protesters marching in Jerusalem outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s home to oppose Bar’s dismissal and demand elections.

The government voted unanimously to dismiss Bar, who will leave his position on April 10 or earlier if a replacement is appointed.

The departures have tightened Netanyahu’s control over his government, which had been divided by disputes over the conduct of the war with Hamas following the Oct. 7 attacks that left around 1,200 dead and another roughly 250 taken hostage. Netanyahu appointed a more ideologically aligned defense minister in Israel Katz and this week cut a deal to bring far-right politician Itamar Ben-Gvir back into his coalition. Katz also appointed a new military chief seen as more in line with the government’s plan for the renewed invasion of Gaza and potential military occupation.

But the moves have also left Israeli society more sharply divided and distrustful of its leadership. Netanyahu, emboldened by a string of military victories, has revived old disputes by again pushing legislation that would give him more control over the country’s judiciary, a gambit that sparked a year of mass protests ahead of the war. His government, the most right wing in Israel’s history, is also seeking to preserve the fast-growing ultraorthodox population’s exemption from military service.

Thursday saw the second straight day of protests in Jerusalem against the planned dismissal of Bar. The protesters, who number in the thousands, say the firing of Bar is part of undermining Israel’s democratic institutions undertaken by Netanyahu’s government and are demanding a change of government.

Write to Dov Lieber at dov.lieber@wsj.com

Netanyahu Fires Israeli Intelligence Chief, Deepening Domestic Turmoil

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