JERUSALEM: Israel’s Supreme Court issued an injunction on Friday temporarily freezing the dismissal of the head of the domestic intelligence service as protestors returned to the streets for a fourth day.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced last week that he had lost confidence in Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar and intended to dismiss him.

Tens of thousands of people joined demonstrations in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv this week protesting against the sacking, which critics saw as an attempt to undermine state institutions.

“I’m looking at the end of the way of Israel as we knew it in the past. We are very concerned that these are the last days of Israel as a democracy,” said Uri Arnin, an entrepreneur who joined a protest outside Netanyahu’s Jerusalem residence.

The Supreme Court ruling will allow the court to consider petitions launched against the dismissal, which was approved by cabinet late on Thursday, with a decision no later than April 8, a court statement said.

The dismissal of Bar followed more than two years of hostility between Netanyahu supporters and elements of the security and defence establishment that was worsened by blame over the failures that allowed Hamas’ Oct 7, 2023 attack.

Bar, who had been one of the main Israeli negotiators in ceasefire and Israeli prisoners’ release talks, had already indicated he would resign before his term was due to end in about 18 months, accepting responsibility for Shin Bet’s failure to forestall the attack.

Netanyahu, with a secure majority in parliament and bolstered by the return of hardline National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, has been able to brush off the protests.

“There will be no civil war! The State of Israel is a state of law and according to the law, the Israeli government decides who will be the head of the Shin Bet,” Netanyahu wrote on X.

Qatargate probe

The move to dismiss Bar came amid a bitter fight over the so-called “Qatargate” investigation that has simmered for months, involving allegations of leaks and influence peddling from Netanyahu’s office.

Israeli media reported that Shin Bet opened an investigation into the allegations in February and in a letter to the government contesting his dismissal that was leaked to the press, Bar said he regarded completion of the investigation as a “public duty of the highest order”.

Published in Dawn, March 22nd, 2025