Netanyahu accumulates serious misconduct – DiePresse.com

The statements of the intelligence boss are tough. In his oath statement towards Israel’s Supreme Court Ron barHead of the Israeli domestic intelligence service Shin betthe head of government Benjamin Netanyahu Serious allegations on Monday: This is said to have repeatedly tried to abuse the Shin Bet for personal purposes.

Critics of the head of government interpret the statement as an alarm signal: Netanyahu undermine systematically Israel’s democratic foundations. The supporters of the Prime Minister, on the other hand, see BARS allegations as a further attempt on the part of the « deep state » to overthrow a democratically legitimized head of government. The conflict is also explosive because Netanyahu had announced the dismissal of bars in mid -March – and the senior judges should now decide whether everything was right.

An Israeli head of government is allowed to fire the head of the Shin Bet. In the room, however, there is a suspicion of a conflict of interest: Under Bar, the Shin Bet determined in the so-called catargate affair against two close employees of the premier, who are said to have done public relations for the golf state of Qatar in parallel to their work.

Critical activists spied on

There are also procedural objections. The Supreme Court has therefore suspended discharge. Ronen Bar himself made it clear weeks ago that in his opinion, his dismissal of « inappropriate considerations and personal and institutional conflicts of interest » was shaped.

In the explanation that had become public on Monday, Bar followed: During his time at the Shin-Bet tip, Netanyahu asked him to spy on government-critical activists. Furthermore, Netanyahu is said to have tried to postpone his own legal process for suspicion of bribery, fraud and infidelity: The prime minister had pushed bar « in an unusual and repeated way » to sign a letter, according to which Netanyahu could not appear in court for security reasons. And finally Netanyahu is said to have asked him to bow to the will of the premier in the event of a constitutional crisis – and not a possibly different judgment of the Supreme Court.

Long -standing critics of the Prime Minister feel confirmed by bars. He knows « a hundred to 200 high -ranking representatives of the security services », wrote columnist Ben Caspit in the conservative « Jerusalem Post« , Who » the way of working, motifs and actions of the man who tries to transform Israel into a dictatorship « , as well as Ronen bar.

Netanyahu in turn made violent allegations against the secret service. Had bar on October 7, 2023, the day of the murderous Hamas-attacks, the Prime Minister and the Minister of Defense awakened in good time, « then the massacre could have been avoided, » said a statement.

Reality test is still pending

« The excitement around bar serves both sides of the political spectrum, » says Yonatan Freeman, political scientist at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, the « press ». « Netanyahu’s critics take bars statements as a further proof that Netanyahu has to withdraw. Netanyahu’s supporters, on the other hand, see this further evidence that many representatives of the security apparatus pursue a political agenda. »

Freeman does not expect a constitutional crisis: If the court decides that bars were not legal, the government will bend to the judgment, he believes. The reality test is still pending. And some ministers of the right-religious government have already threatened to oppose the court in such a case. Then Israel’s democracy faces an unprecedented challenge – and in times of war.