Israel supreme court freezes PM bid to sack intelligence chief Ronen Bar
The decision, after days of protests over both the dismissal of Ronen Bar and renewed attacks on Gaza, will further deepen divisions in the country
Israel’s supreme court Friday froze a decision by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to sack the internal security agency chief, an unprecedented move that has deepened divisions in the country.
The court’s decision came after opposition parties and a non-governmental organisation filed separate appeals hours after the government announced its decision to fire Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar.
It was the first time in Israel’s history that the head of the domestic intelligence agency has been sacked.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid’s centre-right Yesh Atid party said it had appealed against Bar’s dismissal before the Supreme Court of Israel in the name of several opposition movements.
Yesh Atid denounced what it called “a decision based on flagrant conflict of interest”.
The Movement for Quality Government in Israel, an NGO, also appealed against what it said was “an unlawful decision... posing a real risk to the national security of the State of Israel”.