Europe Israeli government dismisses intelligence chief - mass protests
Israel's right-wing religious government of Benjamin Netanyahu has dismissed the head of the domestic intelligence service despite angry mass protests.
21.03.2025, 05:03
SDA
The cabinet unanimously approved Netanyahu's decision to remove Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar from his post, the prime minister's office announced last night. According to the media, this is the first time in Israel's history that a government has dismissed the head of Shin Bet. Thousands of people protested in the pouring rain outside Netanyahu's official residence. According to the media, there were also clashes with the police.
Netanyahu, who has been on trial for corruption for years, announced the dismissal of Ronen Bar on Sunday evening. He cited a "lack of trust" in the intelligence chief as the reason. Relations between the two have long been considered strained. The Shin Bet is investigating confidants of Netanyahu for alleged relations with Qatar.
Critics warn of serious consequences
According to media reports, the investigation concerns alleged payments of money that Netanyahu's advisors are said to have received from Qatar in order to improve the image of the Gulf emirate in Israel. Alongside Egypt and the USA, Qatar is one of the negotiators in the indirect talks with the Islamist Hamas, but is also considered a supporter of the terrorist organization.
In Israel's press, the investigations are referred to as "cataracts". Opposition leader Jair Lapid told the Times of Israel that the government was dismissing Bar "for one reason only: to stop the Katargate investigation". The opposition parties would take joint action "against this reckless move", Lapid announced.
Critics in Israel fear that Netanyahu could replace Bar with a successor who is loyal to him and stops the investigation. They warn that the domestic intelligence service could become an instrument of the Prime Minister and possibly be used against political opponents. Netanyahu had previously removed Bar from the Israeli negotiating team in the indirect talks with Hamas.
Angry protests
Bar will leave office on April 10, unless a successor is appointed before then, Netanyahu's office announced later that night. Mass protests had broken out again beforehand. In Jerusalem, thousands marched in front of Netanyahu's office despite the pouring rain. According to local media, some of the police used water cannons to keep the protesters away. There had already been major protests against Bar's dismissal in the days before.
In another Shin Bet investigation into the mistakes that enabled the massacre by Hamas and other extremist groups in Israel on October 7, 2023, Netanyahu did not come off well either. The terrorist attack triggered the war in the Gaza Strip. Since Tuesday night, Israel's army has once again been taking massive action against Hamas there, effectively ending a ceasefire that had been in place since January 19. According to its own statements, the army has now also begun a ground offensive in Rafah in the south.
Israeli army begins ground offensive in Rafah
According to reports, ground troops destroyed infrastructure belonging to terrorist organizations in one part of the city. Ground attacks also continued in the north and in the center of the sealed-off coastal strip. The air force is also continuing to bomb targets throughout the Gaza Strip. "We will not stop until the hostages are released," said Defense Minister Israel Katz. According to Israeli information, 24 hostages are still being held in the Gaza Strip. In addition, there are the bodies of 35 abductees.
According to the Hamas-controlled health authority, around 49,000 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the war. The independently unverifiable figures do not differentiate between fighters and civilians. Israel speaks of around 20,000 terrorists killed. Arab intelligence officials assume that Hamas only has ten to 15 percent of the approximately 20,000 rockets it had when it attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Israel has destroyed many of Hamas' rocket production facilities, making it difficult to replenish its arsenal, the intelligence officials were quoted as saying. New recruits who have taken the place of the fallen fighters are young and poorly trained. However, Israeli analysts warned that Hamas was still capable of inflicting guerrilla-style losses on Israel's army. The group had been collecting unexploded Israeli shells to use in ambush attacks, they said.
Israel's military intercepts another rocket from Yemen
With the resumption of the Gaza war, the Houthi militia in Yemen, which is allied with Hamas, has also resumed its attacks on Israel. According to the army, warning sirens were once again wailing in several regions and in settlements in the West Bank. A rocket fired from Yemen was intercepted by Israel's missile defense system before it entered Israeli territory, Israel's military announced. There were initially no reports of possible casualties or damage. There was also a rocket alert in Jerusalem.
Meanwhile, the heads of state and government of the EU member states are calling for an immediate return to the ceasefire. There must be an immediate return to the agreement, they said in a joint declaration at the Brussels spring summit. All hostages must be released and hostilities must cease permanently. It was also necessary to provide unhindered and comprehensive humanitarian aid for the civilian population in Gaza, it said. For example, the supply of electricity - including for the water desalination plants - must be resumed immediately.
