The Israeli High Court of Justice has temporarily blocked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's order to fire Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar.
Based on Israeli media reports, the High Court has stated that Bar must remain in office until further notice.
The Israeli High Court of Justice has temporarily blocked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's order to fire Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar.
Based on Israeli media reports, the High Court has stated that Bar must remain in office until further notice. The court further ordered that the government and attorney general must reach a compromise by April 20 regarding the vote to remove the Shin Bet chief.
The court also declared that the Netanyahu government cannot take any action to remove Bar from office while this "interim injunction" is in place, which includes, but is not limited to, finding a replacement for the Shin Bet chief.
This decision was made after an 11-hour hearing on Tuesday. The petitioners questioned the decision to fire Ronan on the grounds of legitimacy and proper procedure.
On March 20, 2025, the government voted to remove Bar from office. The High Court's judgement also supports the Attorney General's argument that an advisory committee should be considered and consulted before dismissing the Shin Bet chief.
The Shin Bet, or the Israel Security Agency, is one of the three principal organisations of the Israeli Intelligence Community alongside Aman and Mossad.
Ronen Bar is an Israeli intelligence officer and the current director of the Shin Bet. He was first appointed as the head of the security agency in October 2021.
Following the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023, Bar took responsibility for failing to thwart the attacks. In an all-staff memo made, Bar said - "The responsibility is mine. Despite a series of actions we carried out, unfortunately, on Saturday we were unable to establish sufficient deterrence so as to thwart the attack."
On March 20, 2025, the Israeli cabinet voted to dismiss Bar, effective 10 April, or when a new director is chosen. This decision came after a controversy in which Shin Bet was investigating allegations involving staff in the prime minister's office and Qatar which stated that advisors of the prime minister accepted money from Doha to promote a positive image of the Arab state in Israel.