Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday publicly accused the pinnacle of Israel’s home safety company of mendacity to the nation’s prime court docket, the newest twist in a authorized battle over Mr. Netanyahu’s try to fireplace the safety chief, Ronen Bar.
In an acerbic 13-page affidavit defending his resolution to take away Mr. Bar, who leads the Shin Guess, Mr. Netanyahu sought to rebut stunning allegations that Mr. Bar made in opposition to the prime minister in an equally scathing affidavit that Mr. Bar submitted final week to Israel’s Supreme Court docket.
The extraordinary change of recriminations got here as a part of a case introduced by Israeli watchdog organizations and opposition events in opposition to Mr. Netanyahu’s resolution to oust Mr. Bar, with his government’s full approval, citing a scarcity of belief between them.
Mr. Bar has mentioned that the choice to take away him stemmed not from skilled issues, however from “an expectation of private loyalty.”
The case has roiled Israel, epitomizing a long-running home disaster that pits Mr. Netanyahu’s hard-line, right-wing supporters in opposition to extra liberal Israelis over the steadiness of energy between branches of presidency and the character of Israeli democracy.
To have the ability to rule on the validity of Mr. Bar’s ouster, the court docket would possibly now must determine which conflicting affidavit is extra credible. Alternatively, the justices may attempt for a compromise, with an agreed-upon date for Mr. Bar to step down.
Mr. Bar had accused Mr. Netanyahu of putting private loyalty above respect for the rulings of the Supreme Court docket ought to a constitutional disaster happen. He additionally mentioned that the prime minister had pressed for the improper use of the Shin Guess’s powers to spy on Israeli residents who had led or funded antigovernment protests.
Mr. Bar mentioned he had been requested to signal an opinion — drafted by Mr. Netanyahu or his aides and based mostly on what Mr. Bar instructed have been spurious safety arguments — that might have hampered the progress of an ongoing corruption trial that entails the prime minister. Mr. Netanyahu is charged with bribery, fraud and breach of belief, accused of offering rich supporters with regulatory favors in change for illicit items and favorable media protection. In his personal affidavit, Mr. Netanyahu rebuffed these assertions, utilizing his authority to again up a few of his arguments with chosen quotations from transcripts of confidential conferences and reviews that might ordinarily be labeled for many years.
Relating to his trial, Mr. Netanyahu mentioned he had merely requested Mr. Bar to supply an pressing safety plan for his safety whereas testifying in court docket after Hezbollah, the Lebanese militia, launched a drone that damaged the Netanyahu family’s home within the Israeli seaside city of Caesarea.
Mr. Netanyahu argued that he didn’t wish to delay giving testimony however solely needed the court docket hearings to be moved to a safer location.
He described the declare that Mr. Bar was requested to spy on the leaders of professional protests as “an entire lie,” saying he was involved solely about situations of violence and harassment of public figures. Hitting again at Mr. Bar, Mr. Netanyahu accused the Shin Guess of getting no qualms about overstepping its authorities when it got here to chasing far-right activists.
Mr. Netanyahu didn’t explicitly deny Mr. Bar’s claims concerning the demand for loyalty within the occasion of a constitutional conflict between the Supreme Court docket and the federal government, however Mr. Netanyahu mentioned Mr. Bar had worded the criticism otherwise within the labeled a part of his affidavit.
In an in depth response on Sunday, issued hours after Mr. Netanyahu launched his affidavit, Mr. Bar mentioned it was “riddled with inaccuracies, slanted quotes and half-truths supposed to distort the context and alter actuality.”
Mr. Bar had traced Mr. Netanyahu’s lack of belief and want to dismiss him again to a sequence of strikes the safety chief made in late 2024 and early 2025, together with his resolution to research Netanyahu aides suspected of safety breaches in circumstances involving the leaking of classified documents and ties to Qatar.
Mr. Netanyahu contends in his affidavit that he misplaced all confidence in Mr. Bar on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas mounted its lethal shock assault on southern Israel, igniting the devastating warfare in Gaza. Blaming Mr. Bar for not foreseeing or stopping the assault, Mr. Netanyahu mentioned he was chargeable for what he known as “the largest intelligence failure in Israel’s historical past.”
Mr. Netanyahu wrote, “You would need to rub your eyes to imagine” the suggestions issued by Mr. Bar shortly earlier than the assault, following some worrying indicators of Hamas exercise in Gaza.
Mr. Bar had suggested in opposition to any broad Israeli actions that might result in a “miscalculation,” Mr. Netanyahu revealed, sticking to what he described as a mistaken safety idea of “preserving quiet in Gaza at any worth.” (Mr. Netanyahu had additionally lengthy subscribed to this coverage, in keeping with Mr. Bar.)
“Whereas Ronen Bar was stopping actions out of worry of setting off a warfare, Hamas had already began a warfare!” Mr. Netanyahu wrote in his affidavit.
Mr. Netanyahu additionally rejected Mr. Bar’s declare that he had warned of warfare within the 12 months earlier than the Hamas-led assault, quoting snippets from transcripts of conferences and intelligence reviews wherein Mr. Bar mentioned that Gaza was “deterred” and that Hamas’s leaders weren’t seeking to begin a warfare.
Mr. Bar had mentioned lengthy earlier than Mr. Netanyahu’s resolution to fireplace him that he would resign at an acceptable time as a part of taking duty for the intelligence failure.
