The pinnacle of Israel’s home intelligence service introduced on Monday that he would step down in June, showing to finish an unusually public and bitter conflict with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that has roiled the nation.
Mr. Netanyahu had fired Ronen Bar, who led the Shin Wager company, in mid-March. The dismissal ignited a right away public backlash: it got here as Shin Wager investigators have been scrutinizing Mr. Netanyahu’s aides for potential impropriety of their dealings with the Gulf state of Qatar.
Critics of Mr. Netanyahu noticed Mr. Bar’s firing as an try and consolidate management over the company and even muzzle the investigation into his advisers. Mr. Netanyahu is already standing trial for corruption in multiple cases; he denies any wrongdoing.
Mr. Bar had been anticipated to combat Mr. Netanyahu within the courts over his dismissal. Israel’s Supreme Courtroom rapidly suspended his firing. The 2 males have leveled grave accusations at each other in signed affidavits.
However on Monday night time, Mr. Bar instructed Shin Wager officers, throughout a speech on the company’s headquarters, that he would resign on Jun. 15. He mentioned he hoped the Supreme Courtroom justices would nonetheless rule on the case in a fashion that preserves “the independence of future heads of the Shin Wager.”
The case epitomized a long-running home disaster that pits Mr. Netanyahu’s hard-line, right-wing supporters in opposition to extra liberal Israelis involved over the stability of energy between the branches of presidency and the character of Israeli democracy.
In sworn testimony, Mr. Bar mentioned Mr. Netanyahu had pressed him to spy on anti-government demonstrators, and had tried to safe the safety chief’s backing for delaying Mr. Netanyahu’s testimony in his personal corruption trial.
Mr. Bar additionally mentioned that Mr. Netanyahu had indicated that he anticipated the Shin Wager to obey him, relatively than the Supreme Courtroom, within the occasion of a disaster between the branches of Israel’s authorities.
In a separate affidavit, Mr. Netanyahu rejected Mr. Bar’s accusations.
The Israeli prime minister’s workplace declined to touch upon Monday’s developments.
A profession intelligence officer, Mr. Bar assumed his place on the pinnacle of the Shin Wager in 2021. Two years later, Hamas launched a shock assault on southern Israel that ignited the conflict. The assault that day killed about 1,200 individuals in Israel, principally civilians, and noticed 250 individuals taken hostage to Gaza. The next Israeli navy marketing campaign left greater than 50,000 Palestinians lifeless, in keeping with Gaza well being officers.
As head of the Shin Wager, Mr. Bar has performed a key function in Israel’s conflict in opposition to Hamas in Gaza. His company additionally helps oversee the decades-long Israeli navy occupation of the West Financial institution, the place thousands and thousands of Palestinians stay below Israeli management.
The failure to forestall Hamas’s assault — the deadliest day in Israeli historical past — hangs heavy over the legacy of all of Israel’s leaders on the time, together with Mr. Bar. Because the conflict in Gaza has dragged on, a minimum of some have begun to resign; Mr. Bar mentioned he, too, would bow out at an acceptable time.
Mr. Netanyahu has typically prevented publicly admitting fault for the technique that enabled Hamas to develop robust sufficient to stage such an bold assault. He has often tried to shift accountability to safety officers like Mr. Bar, accusing them of offering him with poor counsel.
In his affidavit, Mr. Netanyahu contended that he misplaced confidence in Mr. Bar throughout the devastating Hamas-led assaults, blaming him for not foreseeing it.
Mr. Bar argued that Mr. Netanyahu’s need to fireside him started after a sequence of strikes in late 2024 and early 2025, together with his choice to analyze Netanyahu aides suspected of safety breaches in circumstances involving classified documents leaks, together with improper ties to Qatar.
Isabel Kershner and Johnatan Reiss contributed reporting.
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