Israel spy chief to step down after row with PM exposes deepening rifts

The caput of Israel's Shin Bet home quality bureau has resigned.

Ronen Bar made the announcement that helium would permission his presumption connected 15 June astatine a memorial lawsuit for Shin Bet members who person died successful service.

It came aft helium had been engaged successful a fierce trading of recriminations with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who dismissed him past month. A situation to the Supreme Court by the lawyer wide and the absorption had enactment the determination connected hold.

Ronen Bar said helium had chosen to denote his resignation connected an evening that, successful his words, symbolised "remembrance, heroism and sacrifice".

He said each nationalist servant who failed to halt the Hamas-led attacks connected Israel connected 7 October 2023, which triggered the Gaza war, needed to bow their heads "humbly earlier those who were killed, oregon wounded, oregon taken hostage, and enactment accordingly".

On Sunday, Netanyahu presented an affidavit to the Supreme Court successful which helium accused Bar of being a liar.

In his ain affidavit, the Shin Bet main had accused the premier curate of demanding excessive idiosyncratic loyalty and ordering his bureau to spy connected anti-government protesters.

The confrontation has further exposed the deepening rifts successful Israeli authorities and nine betwixt the right-wing and hardliners supporting Netanyahu and the much wide elements successful the country, who took to the streets to protestation against the government's moves to curb the powers of the judiciary for galore months earlier the 7 October attacks.

It centres connected Netanyahu's insistence that helium fired the Shin Bet caput for nonrecreational failures.

Bar countered by saying that his dismissal was motivated by governmental and idiosyncratic considerations.

In his affidavit past week, the spy main said that it was "clear" that if determination were to beryllium a law crisis, Netanyahu would expect him to obey the premier curate and not the courts.

He besides said Netanyahu had enactment unit connected him to usage the Shin Bet to spy connected Israelis starring oregon providing fiscal enactment to anti-government protests.

Many successful Israel reacted with alarm, saying it was grounds of what appeared to beryllium an unprecedented effort to overstep the powers of the home quality agency.

In his affidavit, which functioned arsenic a signifier of rebuttal, Netanyahu excoriated the Shin Bet head.

"The accusation according to which I allegedly demanded enactment against guiltless civilians, oregon against a non-violent and morganatic protestation during the protests of 2023, is an implicit lie," helium said.

Netanyahu besides trained his sights connected the information failures successful the lead-up to and during the 7 October attacks, saying that Bar bore "massive and nonstop responsibility" for them and had "failed successful his relation arsenic main of Shin Bet and mislaid the assurance of the full Israeli authorities arsenic acold arsenic his quality to proceed to negociate the organisation".

Bar instantly responded successful benignant successful a statement, saying Netanyahu's affidavit was "full of inaccuracies, biased quotes and half-truths aimed astatine taking things retired of discourse and changing reality".

The Supreme Court was facing a quandary implicit who to judge - which Bar's resignation whitethorn person to immoderate grade pre-empted.

However, Bar made wide connected Monday that helium would play a part, if necessary, successful immoderate aboriginal proceedings.

"The tribunal proceeding is not astir my idiosyncratic affairs, but astir the independency of the adjacent heads of the Shin Bet, and of people I americium acceptable to look for immoderate process that the tribunal whitethorn necessitate successful this respect successful the future," helium said.

The issues which person been exposed successful the fierce recriminations betwixt the 2 men person erstwhile again focused attraction connected the expanding bitterness betwixt opposed sections of Israeli society.

These person been further exacerbated by the ever-growing responsibility enactment betwixt those who enactment Netanyahu and his hard-line authorities successful wanting to proceed the warfare successful Gaza to destruct Hamas astatine each costs, and those who judge the destiny of the surviving Israeli hostages inactive being held by Hamas indispensable beryllium enactment first, adjacent if it means ending the war.