Top Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday publicly accused the top of Israel’s home safety company of mendacity to the rustic’s best court docket, the most recent twist in a prison struggle over Mr. Netanyahu’s try to hearth the safety leader, Ronen Bar.
In an acerbic 13-page affidavit protecting his determination to take away Mr. Bar, who leads the Shin Wager, Mr. Netanyahu sought to rebut stunning allegations that Mr. Bar made towards the high minister in an similarly scathing affidavit that Mr. Bar submitted closing week to Israel’s Ideally suited Courtroom.
The peculiar trade of recriminations got here as a part of a case introduced via Israeli watchdog organizations and opposition events towards Mr. Netanyahu’s determination to oust Mr. Bar, with his government’s full approval, mentioning a loss of consider between them.
Mr. Bar has mentioned that the verdict to take away him stemmed no longer 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 towards extra liberal Israelis over the steadiness of energy between branches of presidency and the nature of Israeli democracy.
As a way to rule at the validity of Mr. Bar’s ouster, the court docket would possibly now must make a decision which conflicting affidavit is extra credible. Then again, 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 appreciate for the rulings of the Ideally suited Courtroom must a constitutional disaster happen. He additionally mentioned that the high minister had pressed for the unsuitable use of the Shin Wager’s powers to secret agent on Israeli voters who had led or funded antigovernment protests.
Mr. Bar mentioned he have been requested to signal an opinion — drafted via Mr. Netanyahu or his aides and in line with what Mr. Bar urged have been spurious safety arguments — that might have hampered the growth of an ongoing corruption trial that comes to the high minister. Mr. Netanyahu is charged with bribery, fraud and breach of consider, accused of offering rich supporters with regulatory favors in trade for illicit presents and favorable media protection. In his personal affidavit, Mr. Netanyahu rebuffed the ones assertions, the usage of his authority to again up a few of his arguments with decided on quotations from transcripts of confidential conferences and stories that might ordinarily be labeled for many years.
Referring to his trial, Mr. Netanyahu mentioned he had simply requested Mr. Bar to supply an pressing safety plan for his coverage whilst attesting in court docket after Hezbollah, the Lebanese military, introduced a drone that damaged the Netanyahu family’s home within the Israeli beach the town of Caesarea.
Mr. Netanyahu argued that he didn’t wish to prolong giving testimony however most effective sought after the court docket hearings to be moved to a extra protected location.
He described the declare that Mr. Bar was once requested to secret agent at the leaders of professional protests as “an entire lie,” pronouncing he was once involved most effective about circumstances of violence and harassment of public figures. Hitting again at Mr. Bar, Mr. Netanyahu accused the Shin Wager of getting no qualms about overstepping its government when it got here to chasing far-right activists.
Mr. Netanyahu didn’t explicitly deny Mr. Bar’s claims concerning the call for for loyalty within the tournament of a constitutional conflict between the Ideally suited Courtroom and the federal government, however Mr. Netanyahu mentioned Mr. Bar had worded the criticism another way within the labeled a part of his affidavit.
In an in depth reaction on Sunday, issued hours after Mr. Netanyahu launched his affidavit, Mr. Bar mentioned it was once “riddled with inaccuracies, slanted quotes and half-truths supposed to distort the context and change truth.”
Mr. Bar had traced Mr. Netanyahu’s lack of consider and need to brush aside him again to a chain of strikes the safety leader made in past due 2024 and early 2025, together with his determination to research Netanyahu aides suspected of safety breaches in instances involving the leaking of classified documents and ties to Qatar.
Mr. Netanyahu contends in his affidavit that he misplaced all self belief in Mr. Bar on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas fixed its fatal marvel assault on southern Israel, igniting the devastating battle in Gaza. Blaming Mr. Bar for no longer foreseeing or combating the assault, Mr. Netanyahu mentioned he was once liable for what he referred to 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 via Mr. Bar in a while earlier than the assault, following some being concerned indicators of Hamas job in Gaza.
Mr. Bar had urged towards any large Israeli movements that might result in a “miscalculation,” Mr. Netanyahu printed, sticking to what he described as a flawed safety thought of “keeping quiet in Gaza at any worth.” (Mr. Netanyahu had additionally lengthy subscribed to this coverage, consistent with Mr. Bar.)
“Whilst Ronen Bar was once combating movements out of worry of atmosphere off a battle, Hamas had already began a battle!” Mr. Netanyahu wrote in his affidavit.
Mr. Netanyahu additionally rejected Mr. Bar’s declare that he had warned of battle within the yr earlier than the Hamas-led assault, quoting snippets from transcripts of conferences and intelligence stories through which Mr. Bar mentioned that Gaza was once “deterred” and that Hamas’s leaders weren’t wanting to begin a battle.
Mr. Bar had mentioned lengthy earlier than Mr. Netanyahu’s determination to fireplace him that he would renounce at a suitable time as a part of taking duty for the intelligence failure.
