Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday raised concerns among critics seeking to undermine its independence, saying he was taking action to drive away the director of Israel's domestic intelligence agency, Singh Bett.
Netanyahu's efforts to fire Ronenber, the head of a powerful institution, underscored years of tensions between key members of Israeli security facilities that clashed over handling the war in Gaza.
The decision to pursue Mr. Burr's firing came from the Singh Bett investigation as well as the investigation into the allegations against several Netanyahu aides.
The Prime Minister's Office said Netanyahu informed Barr that the resolution to expel him will be submitted to the Israeli Cabinet for approval this week.
However, in the letter, Attorney General Galli Baharav Miara said he was not even allowed to begin the process until a decision is made regarding the legality of terminating Mr. Barr. She said there are concerns that it will be a conflict of interest for Netanyahu.
Members of Netanyahu's coalition demanded that the Prime Minister set fire to Mr. Burr on what he said was his weakening. They have also called for the fire of Baharav Miara, who had long had a tense relationship with Netanyahu.
The decision to remove Mr. Burr, who has been leading the agency since 2021, will likely be appealed to the Supreme Court.
In a recorded video message posted on social media, Netanyahu said he didn't trust Barr and needed to be fired.
“Anytime – especially during an existential war like this – there must be full trust between the Prime Minister and the Director of Singh Bet,” he said.
Mr Barr fought back in a strongly-worded official statement saying that Netanyahu's expectations of “personal trust” were against the interests of the people.
“It's a fundamentally flawed expectation that violates the shin betting law and political mansy,” he said in a rare official statement.
Barr told Netanyahu that he planned to stay in his post until all the hostages held in Gaza were revived and many delicate investigations were completed. He also said he wanted to finish preparing the two people he described as candidates to make him successful.
The move to end Mr. Barr followed the removal of the defense minister and the Israeli military's chief of staff in the final months of two other security leaders who are often in conflict with the prime minister.
Former members of Singh Bett expressed concern about the possibility that Netanyahu would nominate a successor to Barr based on political considerations.
“Israel democracy is on the crash course,” said Ami Ayalon, former head of Singh Bet. If the prime minister could drive Bar away, he said it would be “another step to transforming Israel into a state that prioritizes personal loyalty to its leader above all else.”
This month, Singh Bett published a summary of the agency's failure investigation before and after the October 2023-led attack, which was important for both Netanyahu's government and agency. The summary admitted that Singh Bett failed to provide a warning to the attack, but said it warned Hamas had not been deterred in the past few months and recommended that he take action against extremist groups.
The report also said Singh Bett informed the government that Israel's political division encouraged its enemy and placed the country in a vulnerable position. The finding was widely seen as pointing his fingers at Netanyahu's government. This was driving a controversial judicial overhaul that divided the Israeli people.
