TEL AVIV, Israel
The Israeli government on Friday voted "unanimously" in favor of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to fire Ronen Bar, the head of the Shin Bet, Israel's internal intelligence service, according to a statement from the prime minister's office.
"The Government
unanimously approved Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's proposal to end ISA
Director Ronen Bar's term of office," the statement said.
Tens of thousands of
people have demonstrated against the government since Tuesday following
the intention to fire Bar, with the Shin Bet, along with Israeli police,
currently investigating several of Netanyahu's aides over alleged financial
connections to Qatar while also working for the Israeli leader.
Bar did not attend the meeting
in which the vote on his dismissal took place, choosing to send a letter
instead.
In the letter, which was
leaked to the Israeli media, Bar called the process of firing him
"inappropriate for any employee, let alone a high-ranking one, let alone
the head of the Shin Bet."
Regarding Netanyahu's
reasoning for the move, Bar wrote it seemed the Israeli leader's argumentation
for the move was aimed at "hiding the real motives" behind his
sacking, motives which he labels as "profoundly wrong" later in the
letter.
Later in the letter, Bar
addressed Netanyahu's claim that he had lost trust in the Shin Bet
leader.
"This is not about the
lack of trust, but about the perception of personal loyalty over loyalty to the
public," Bar wrote.
Netanyahu took to his X
account to blame what he called "the leftist Deep State" for trying
to "thwart the people's will."
Israeli police made several
arrests after several hundreds of protesters had clashed with officers on their
way to the Israeli Prime Minister's official residence, with reports in Israel
suggesting some of them tried to break through police barricades in front of
Netanyahu's home. Several demonstrators were injured, with water cannons also
being in use by police.
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