Ben-Gvir accuses the dismissed Shin Bet director with plotting a coup

A coup attempt in Israel, directly instigated by the head of the Shin Bet, reveals a major surprise.

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir accused the head of the General Security Service (Shin Bet), Ronen Bar.

During an Israeli television interview on Friday, Ben-Gvir accused Bar of “attempting a coup” and gathering evidence against an elected official.

Ben-Gvir also commented on the recently passed law amending the composition of the Judicial Selection Committee, describing it as “an important step toward reforming the judicial system and establishing the necessary balance”.

Regarding the government’s legal advisor, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir accused her of persecuting him in televised remarks, noting that she “doesn’t want her as a minister”.

It’s worth noting that a complex political crisis is currently raging between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his allies on the one hand, and Shin Bet Director Ronen Bar and his supporters on the other.

Netanyahu insists that he fired the Shin Bet director because he lost confidence in him.

However, the Shin Bet director himself and Netanyahu’s critics have presented a completely different narrative: Netanyahu is seeking to dismiss the Shin Bet director because the agency is investigating Netanyahu’s closest aides over alleged ties to Qatar, and allegations that some of these aides exerted inappropriate pressure on Qatar’s behalf, including receiving funds from the Qatari government.

According to The Times of Israel, these disputes come as the Shin Bet security service investigates links between Benjamin Netanyahu’s aides and Qatar, amid allegations that Netanyahu’s former spokesman, Eli Feldstein, who has been charged with harming national security in a case related to the theft and leaking of classified Israeli military documents, worked for Qatar through an international company contracted by Doha to provide pro-Qatar stories to senior Israeli journalists.

For his part, opposition leader Yair Lapid said that Netanyahu decided to dismiss Bar for one reason only: the investigation into the “Qatargate” affair, which had dragged on for a year and a half without him seeing any reason to dismiss him.

He noted that when the investigation into the infiltration of Qatari funds into Netanyahu’s office and their transfer to his aides began, he announced his dismissal.