TEL AVIV: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday he will seek to dismiss the head of the country’s internal security service this week, deepening a power struggle between the men focused largely on who bears responsibility for the Hamas attack that sparked the war in Gaza.
The effort by Netanyahu to remove Shin Bet Director Ronen Bar is the latest move in an increasingly acrimonious dispute, which also involves the security service’s investigation into close aides of Netanyahu. In response, Bar said he would refuse to immediately step down, heightening the turmoil.
Netanyahu said in a statement he has had “ongoing distrust” with Bar, and “this distrust has grown over time.”
Bar replied in a statement that he planned to continue in the post for the near future and had told that to Netanyahu, citing his “personal obligations” to free the remaining hostages in Gaza, finish sensitive investigations and prepare potential successors.
The Shin Bet is responsible for monitoring Palestinian militant groups, and recently issued a report accepting responsibility for its failures around the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack. But it also criticized Netanyahu, saying failed government policies helped create the climate that led to it.
Whereas the army concluded in a recent report that it underestimated Hamas’ capabilities, Shin Bet said it had a “deep understanding of the threat.” In veiled criticism of the government, the agency said its attempts to thwart the Hamas threat were not implemented.
“The investigation reveals a long and deliberate disregard from the political leadership from the organization’s warnings,” Bar said Sunday.
The tensions boiled over this weekend when Bar’s predecessor, Nadav Argaman, said he would release sensitive information about Netanyahu if it is found that the prime minister had broken the law. Netanyahu accused Argaman of blackmail and filed a police complaint.
Netanyahu has resisted calls for an official state commission of inquiry into the Oct. 7 attack and has tried to blame the failures on the army and security agencies. In recent months, a number of senior security officials, including a defense minister and army chief, have been fired or forced to step down.
Bar has been been one of the few senior security officials since the Oct. 7 attack to remain in office.
Netanyahu said removing Bar as Shin Bet chief would help Israel “achieve its war goals and prevent the next disaster.” The prime minister is expected to appoint a loyalist in his place, slowing any momentum for the commission of inquiry.
Netanyahu’s proposed resolution for Bar’s dismissal would need the approval of parliament, the Knesset, and it is likely he has support to pass it.
However, a personnel decision of this magnitude must get the attorney general’s approval, said Amichai Cohen, a senior research fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute think tank. Cohen said Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara may challenge Netanyahu, setting up a court battle.
The two have a combative relationship, with the prime minister accusing Baharav-Miara of meddling in government decisions. Earlier this month, Justice Minister Yariv Levin, one of Netanyahu’s biggest supporters, initiated the process of firing her.
Cohen also called Netanyahu’s decision “very problematic,” and said it illustrates the conflict of interest regarding investigations into connections between the prime minister’s office and Qatar and the information Shin Bet published in its investigation into the failures leading up to the Oct. 7, 2023 attack.
The Movement for Quality Government in Israel, a good-governance civil society group, called Netanyahu’s announcement a “declaration of war on the rule of law” and claimed that he does not have the authority to take the step against Bar because of investigations into his own office.
Netanyahu is angry that the Shin Bet is investigating members of his staff for their dealings with Qatar, a mediator in talks on the war in Gaza. The Shin Bet, and Bar, have been closely involved with the hostage negotiations.
Netanyahu recently removed Bar from the negotiating team and replaced him with a loyalist, Cabinet minister Ron Dermer. Israeli media have reported on deep policy differences between the negotiators, who have pushed for a hostage deal, and Netanyahu, who continues to threaten to resume the war.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid accused Netanyahu of attempting to fire Bar over the investigation into connections between the prime minister’s office and Qatar, and said he would appeal the dismissal, calling the resolution “shameful” and politically motivated.
Netanyahu seeks to dismiss Israel’s internal security chief as power struggle boils over
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Netanyahu seeks to dismiss Israel’s internal security chief as power struggle boils over
- Shin Bet Director Ronen said he would refuse to immediately step down
- Netanyahu’s proposed resolution for Bar’s dismissal would need the approval of parliament
Syrian army pushes into Aleppo district after Kurdish groups reject withdrawal
- Two Syrian security officials told Reuters the ceasefire efforts had failed and that the army would seize the neighborhood by force
ALEPPO, Syria: The Syrian army said it would push into the last Kurdish-held district of Aleppo city on Friday after Kurdish groups there rejected a government demand for their fighters to withdraw under a ceasefire deal.
The violence in Aleppo has brought into focus one of the main faultlines in Syria as the country tries to rebuild after a devastating war, with Kurdish forces resisting efforts by President Ahmed Al-Sharaa’s Islamist-led government to bring their fighters under centralized authority.
At least nine civilians have been killed and more than 140,000 have fled their homes in Aleppo, where Kurdish forces are trying to cling on to several neighborhoods they have run since the early days of the war, which began in 2011.
HIGHLIGHTS
• Standoff pits government against Kurdish forces
• Sharaa says Kurds are ‘fundamental’ part of Syria
• More than 140,000 have fled homes due to unrest
• Turkish, Syrian foreign ministers discuss Aleppo by phone
ِA ceasefire was announced by the defense ministry overnight, demanding the withdrawal of Kurdish forces to the Kurdish-held northeast. That would effectively end Kurdish control over the pockets of Aleppo that Kurdish forces have held.
CEASEFIRE ‘FAILED,’ SECURITY OFFICIALS SAY
But in a statement, Kurdish councils that run Aleppo’s Sheikh Maksoud and Ashrafiyah districts said calls to leave were “a call to surrender” and that Kurdish forces would instead “defend their neighborhoods,” accusing government forces of intensive shelling.
Hours later, the Syrian army said that the deadline for Kurdish fighters to withdraw had expired, and that it would begin a military operation to clear the last Kurdish-held neighborhood of Sheikh Maksoud.
Two Syrian security officials told Reuters the ceasefire efforts had failed and that the army would seize the neighborhood by force.
The Syrian defense ministry had earlier carried out strikes on parts of Sheikh Maksoud that it said were being used by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to launch attacks on the “people of Aleppo.” It said on Friday that SDF strikes had killed three army soldiers.
Kurdish security forces in Aleppo said some of the strikes hit a hospital, calling it a war crime. The defense ministry disputed that, saying the structure was a large arms depot and that it had been destroyed in the resumption of strikes on Friday.
It posted an aerial video that it said showed the location after the strikes, and said secondary explosions were visible, proving it was a weapons cache.
Reuters could not immediately verify the claim.
The SDF is a powerful Kurdish-led security force that controls northeastern Syria. It says it withdrew its fighters from Aleppo last year, leaving Kurdish neighborhoods in the hands of the Kurdish Asayish police.
Under an agreement with Damascus last March the SDF was due to integrate with the defense ministry by the end of 2025, but there has been little progress.
FRANCE, US SEEK DE-ESCALATION
France’s foreign ministry said it was working with the United States to de-escalate.
A ministry statement said President Emmanuel Macron had urged Sharaa on Thursday “to exercise restraint and reiterated France’s commitment to a united Syria where all segments of Syrian society are represented and protected.”
A Western diplomat told Reuters that mediation efforts were focused on calming the situation and producing a deal that would see Kurdish forces leave Aleppo and provide security guarantees for Kurds who remained.
The diplomat said US envoy Tom Barrack was en route to Damascus. A spokesperson for Barrack declined to comment. Washington has been closely involved in efforts to promote integration between the SDF — which has long enjoyed US military support — and Damascus, with which the United States has developed close ties under President Donald Trump.
The ceasefire declared by the government overnight said Kurdish forces should withdraw by 9 a.m. (0600 GMT) on Friday, but no one withdrew overnight, Syrian security sources said.
Barrack had welcomed what he called a “temporary ceasefire” and said Washington was working intensively to extend it beyond the 9 a.m. deadline. “We are hopeful this weekend will bring a more enduring calm and deeper dialogue,” he wrote on X.
TURKISH WARNING
Turkiye views the SDF as a terrorist organization linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party and has warned of military action if it does not honor the integration agreement.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, speaking on Thursday, expressed hope that the situation in Aleppo would be normalized “through the withdrawal of SDF elements.”
Though Sharaa, a former Al-Qaeda commander who belongs to the Sunni Muslim majority, has repeatedly vowed to protect minorities, bouts of violence in which government-aligned fighters have killed hundreds of Alawites and Druze have spread alarm in minority communities over the last year.
The Kurdish councils in Aleppo said Damascus could not be trusted “with our security and our neighborhoods,” and that attacks on the areas aimed to bring about displacement.
Sharaa, in a phone call with Iraqi Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani on Friday, affirmed that the Kurds were “a fundamental part of the Syrian national fabric,” the Syrian presidency said.
Neither the government nor the Kurdish forces have announced a toll of casualties among their fighters from the recent clashes.
