Demonstrations in Israel against the dismiss of Shin Bet director

Some 40,000 Israelis participated in protests in Tel Aviv on Tuesday evening, rejecting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to dismiss Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar.

On Sunday evening, Netanyahu announced that he had decided to dismiss Bar due to a lack of confidence in him, as a result of the repercussions of the events of October 7, 2023.

The decision would be presented at a government meeting.

Israelis participated in a protest led by the Generals’ Forum, which includes several former heads of Israeli security institutions, rejecting the government’s intention to approve Bar’s dismissal.

The Habima Square (Kidnapped Persons’ Square) was filled with crowds, and the neighboring Rothschild and Ben Zion streets were also filled with thousands of protesters, and the area witnessed severe traffic jams.

From the protest platform, former Mossad chief Tamir Pardo (2011-2016) said, “Netanyahu poses a clear and direct threat to state security, and he has no conscience or compass”.

He added, “We won’t forget and won’t forgive Netanyahu for abandoning state security and ignoring the warnings of the security services before the war (referring to the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023).

Pardo continued, “We won’t forgive Netanyahu for his continued abandonment of the kidnapped hostages in Gaza, despite the awareness that continuing the fighting could lead to their deaths”.

Tel Aviv estimates that there are 59 Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip, 24 of whom are still alive.

Meanwhile, more than 9,500 Palestinians are languishing in its prisons, suffering torture, starvation, and medical neglect, many of whom have died, according to Palestinian and Israeli human rights and media reports.

Pardo added, “We’ll also not forgive Netanyahu for dismissing the head of the Shin Bet hours before he (Netanyahu) was to sit at the command table with the Chief of Staff to discuss resuming the war”.

Pardo accused Netanyahu of “persecuting the security establishment and turning the army and intelligence agencies into political tools”.

He continued, saying, “History won’t forget Netanyahu’s surrender to the extremists (in his government), his abandonment of the residents of the north (near the border with Lebanon) and the south (near Gaza), and the war launched for narrow political reasons”.

Also, from the protest platform, former commander of the IDF Northern Corps, Major General (res.) Noam Tibon, said, “It’s possible to rescue the kidnapped soldiers who are now in the Gaza tunnels, and it’s still possible to rescue them”.

He added, “But unfortunately, the October 7 government, the government of failure and negligence, has decided that it’s not interested in them”.

He added, “This government is interested in other matters. They want to control the Shin Bet. Bar didn’t let them, so they fired him”.

He continued, “They also want to appoint an obedient puppet in place of the government’s legal advisor (Gali Bahrab-Miara), and of course, pass a reprehensible draft evasion law that weakens the army”.

In addition to Tel Aviv, other areas in Israel are witnessing similar protests, including Jerusalem and Beersheba.

While Israel links the resumption of genocide to its desire to return prisoners from Gaza and eliminate what it considers a threat from the territory, Israeli analysts attribute this development to Netanyahu’s desire to pass the budget to prevent his government from automatically falling at the end of March.

At dawn on Tuesday, Netanyahu resumed his war of extermination in Gaza, reneging on a 58-day ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement with Hamas, which began on January 19, 2025, and was brokered by Qatar and Egypt and supported by the United States.

Israel suddenly intensified attacks with violent, widespread airstrikes targeting civilians, resulting in 404 deaths and more than 562 injuries.

By resuming the war, Netanyahu was able on Tuesday to bring resigned National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir back into the government coalition, ensuring the support of his far-right Jewish Power party lawmakers for the budget bill.