Bar v Bibi: Israel is the loser as the Shin Bet’s chief takes on the PM

Whichever side of the political map one sits on, one truth should be undeniable: something in Israel is deeply broken.

While it is obviously impossible for the average person to know if what Bar is saying is accurate, it is also impossible to ignore. What Netanyahu allegedly asked him to do is not just against the law, it is a list of moves that pull Israel away from being a liberal democracy and put it on a course – one some opposition figures already claim the country is on – toward a country that is ruled by an authoritarian regime, like Turkey.

Equally concerning is the fact that Bar is not the first Shin Bet chief to raise these red flags.

His predecessor, Nadav Argaman, recently hinted at possessing a “trove” of information about Netanyahu. In addition, Argaman’s predecessor, Yoram Cohen, disclosed in a court affidavit that Netanyahu, during his tenure, had twice sought to exploit the agency’s powers for political and personal ends.

The trend extends beyond the Shin Bet. A long list of senior officials – including IDF chiefs of staff such as Shaul Mofaz and Amnon Lipkin-Shahak, as well as Mossad directors such as Meir Dagan and Tamir Pardo – have voiced similar concerns about Netanyahu’s leadership and particularly his attitude toward the professional integrity of Israel’s security institutions.

But this is not to excuse Bar’s own apparent failures.

October 7 was a catastrophic intelligence failure. Preventing Palestinian terrorism was Bar’s core responsibility and he failed. The Shin Bet misread the intelligence, and when the attack began, it failed to act fast enough to stop the massacre. That, in itself, would be grounds for dismissal. Israel’s head of military intelligence has already resigned. The IDF chief of staff stepped down in January. By choosing to remain in office, Bar opens himself to accusations that he is trying to deflect accountability.

Bar has said repeatedly that he never intended to serve out his full term yet his refusal to step aside despite the failures of October 7 sends a message that security failures are tolerable. A government should have the authority to remove a civil servant, no matter how high ranking he is. That is the difference between an elected official and an appointed one.

Still, no matter how this ends – whether the High Court allows Bar to stay or Netanyahu succeeds in forcing him out – there are no real winners.

Netanyahu will stay on as prime minister and the country will eventually go to an election – either in 2026 or earlier – where the people will have to decide who they want to lead them. If Netanyahu is once again elected, what will his opponents say? Will the accusations carry the same weight?

And the Shin Bet, one way or another, will have to move on without Bar. Whether he leaves by court order or on his own terms, his tenure is nearing its end. The public dispute with Netanyahu has already done damage, turning one of Israel’s vital security agency into a political battleground. That cannot continue.

Which is why it’s worth returning to the final lines of Bar’s affidavit, where he explains why he felt compelled to speak publicly: “Given the current situation, and out of deep concern for the State of Israel in general and for the Shin Bet’s ability to function in particular, I felt it was my duty to present to the Honourable Court – and to the public – a full and accurate account of the sequence of events.

“This is my obligation to those who will come after me, so that their ability to fulfil their roles with professionalism, with a sense of statehood, and with strict adherence to the principle that the agency’s powers and tools be used solely for their intended purposes, will be preserved. It is also to uphold a clear boundary between the trust required in a democratic system and the kind of loyalty that characterises other regimes.”

Trust – that is what is missing in Israel today.

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Yaakov Katz is co-author of a forthcoming book, While Israel Slept, about the October 7 Hamas attacks and is a senior fellow at the Jewish People Policy Institute, a Jerusalem-based think tank