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JERUSALEM: Israel’s top court began a hearing on Tuesday on the hotly contested decision to sack domestic security chief Ronen Bar, with protests from government supporters and critics briefly interrupting the proceedings.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced last month that his government had unanimously approved a motion to dismiss the head of the Shin Bet internal security agency, citing “lack of trust” and requiring Bar to leave his post by April 10.
The hearing on Tuesday follows petitions filed by opposition parties and non-profit groups, challenging the legality of the government’s move which the Supreme Court had already frozen until a ruling was made.
Protests were held outside the Jerusalem courtroom, and inside, shouts and interruptions forced the judges to halt proceedings after only 30 minutes.
“No court in the world is run this way,” said Supreme Court President Yitzhak Amit after warning government supporters and critics who interrupted the hearing, which is broadcast live.
Amit called for a recess, during which scuffles between the sides continued outside the courtroom.
The hearing resumed about an hour later, with no audience, “to allow the right to argue without fear for all parties involved,” according to the judges.
Attorney Zion Amir, representing the government, said that “this is purely a political petition.”
The judges will likely issue a decision later in the week, according to media reports.
Bar has pushed back against the government’s move to sack him, dismissing Netanyahu’s arguments as “general, unsubstantiated accusations” motivated by “personal interest.”
Bar said the decision was meant to “prevent investigations into the events leading up to October 7 and other serious matters” being looked at by the Shin Bet, referring to the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, who is due to address the court, has also cautioned that ousting Bar was “tainted by a personal conflict of interest on the part of the prime minister due to the criminal investigations involving his associates.”
Baharav-Miara was referring to a case dubbed by media as “Qatargate” involving Netanyahu’s close advisers under investigation for allegedly receiving money from Qatar.
Tomer Naor, from the Movement for Quality Government in Israel which submitted one of the petitions, told AFP that “Netanyahu is under a severe conflict of interest.”
He said the group had petitioned the court to “remind that Ronen Bar is the head of the Shin Bet (and) is in charge of the investigation into ‘Qatargate’.”
Dov Halbertal, a lawyer who came to watch the hearing, said that “Netanyahu is the ruler, he can fire whoever he wants, especially this Ronen Bar, the head of the Shin Bet that is responsible for the massacre” of October 7, 2023.
The fact that the court was hearing the petitions was “anti-democracy,” he said.
Baharav-Miara, who has often clashed with the Netanyahu administration over the independence of the judiciary, said that firing Bar could lead to the politicization of the powerful position.
Appointed Shin Bet chief in October 2021 by the previous government, led by opponents of Netanyahu, Bar has clashed with the long-serving incumbent since his return to power in late 2022.
Bar was critical of a government proposal to reform the judiciary, which drew hundreds of thousands of Israelis onto the streets in protest and was temporarily shelved when the Gaza war began with Hamas’s attack.
Bar, who was only meant to end his tenure next year, had suggested he would consider stepping down early due to his part in failing to prevent the October 7 attack, but only once the war is over and the hostages held in Gaza are freed.