News Analysis
The efforts are part of a dispute between Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing alliance and his opponents over the nature and future of the Israeli state.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's sudden move to remove the head of Israel's domestic intelligence service is the latest salvo in the Israeli government's two-year campaign to tighten its grip on the country's various branches of government.
The move sparked calls for mass protests on Monday and drew criticism from business leaders and the attorney general, evoking memories of the social upheaval of 2023 that was sparked by similar efforts to curb the powers of government watchdogs.
Mr. Netanyahu’s plan to hold a cabinet vote on the future of Ronen Bar, the head of the agency known as Shin Bet, comes less than a month after his government announced a similar move to fire Gali Baharav-Miara, Israel’s attorney general. It also comes amid renewed efforts in parliament by Mr. Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition to give politicians more control over the selection of Supreme Court justices.
The moves mark a return to Mr. Netanyahu’s failed efforts in 2023 to curb the powers of institutions that acted as a check on his government’s authority, including the Supreme Court and the attorney general.
The program — often described as judicial reform — proved deeply divisive, sparking months of mass protests and widening divisions in Israeli society. The campaign was only suspended after the Hamas attack on Israel in October 2023 revived a sense of national unity.
Now, amid a shaky ceasefire in Gaza, the easing of tensions appears to be over.
“The removal of the Shin Bet chief should not be seen in isolation,” said Amichai Cohen, a law professor and research fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute, a Jerusalem-based research group. “It is part of a general trend to combat these independent agencies and strengthen the powers of the executive branch.”
