Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed in a Saturday speech that the decision to fire the country’s domestic security chief Ronen Bar was made before the announcement that Bar was investigating the prime ministry for alleged ties to the Qatari government.
Netanyahu said that he had decided to fire Bar, the director of Shin Bet, after the agency’s report on the 7 October 2023 attack, rather than after it opened its investigation.
“Ronen Bar will not remain head of the Shin Bet. There will not be a civil war, and Israel will remain a democratic state,” said Netanyahu.
Shin Bet has said that it began its investigation into connections between officials in the prime minister’s office and the Qatari government in early February, before the release of the 7 October report. The investigation is looking into allegations that some members of the prime minister’s office, as well as other government agencies, took money to promote the interests of Qatar.
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