Emotional outbursts disrupt a hearing on whether the government has the mandate to fire the head of the Shin Bet security service.

By: Canaan Lidor

Booing and shouting erupted at a court hearing on Tuesday in Jerusalem, where judges reviewed petitions against the dismissal of the head of the Shin Bet domestic security service.

The disruptions, which prompted an unplanned pause in the High Court of Justice’s hearing about Ronen Bar’s sacking, began with chants by relatives of soldiers who had died fighting in Gaza. The chanters shouted at the judges: “You don’t have the authority.”

The event underscored how Bar’s dismissal last month—and his remaining in office despite it—became the latest battleground in a broader political conflict between Israelis who recognize the legitimacy of the elected right-wing government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and those who seek judicial interventions against its mandate.

Some of the bereaved families who interrupted the hearing said they blamed Ronen Bar for the failures that led to the death of their loved ones on Oct. 7, 2023, or in subsequent fighting.

The Shin Bet was widely seen as the ultimate intelligence authority when it came to preparing for hostilities by Hamas. Despite this, about 6,000 Hamas terrorists invaded Israel, murdering some 1,200 people and abducting another 251 in a surprise attack whose preliminary signs were largely ignored.

“Because of him, we have no children. Because of him, our children are on Mount Herzl,” cried Itzik Buntzel, whose son Amit fell in the war that followed the Oct. 7 attack, in court. Mount Herzl in Jerusalem has a large military cemetery.

“Our child’s blood is crying out from the ground. How can he stay?” Buntzel said about Bar before the justices ordered that he be ejected and paused the hearing.

The justices later ordered the audience to clear the courtroom and resumed deliberations, which were livestreamed, in an empty hall.

Justice Minister Yariv Levin, in a statement, said the commotion at the hearing exposed some of the underlying issues at play in the saga surrounding Bar’s dismissal.

“The cries heard today at the High Court of Justice echo those of millions, whose rights are being trampled on and whose democratic decision they received at the ballot box is being taken away from them by a handful of arrogant and detached judges,” Levin wrote.

Last month, Netanyahu said that he has “an ongoing distrust of the head of the Shin Bet, which has grown over time.” The decision to fire Bar over this “is necessary for the rehabilitation of the organization, for achieving all of our war goals, and for preventing the next disaster,” Netanyahu said on March 16.

However, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara then ruled that Netanyahu may not fire Bar, citing what she termed concerns of a conflict of interest. The High Court of Justice, responding to petitions against the dismissal, said the sacking was on hold pending its review, which began Tuesday.

The reason cited by the High Court and Bahrav-Miara for blocking Bar’s dismissal was that Shin Bet was investigating claims that Qatar paid some of Netanyahu’s staff. This places Netanyahu at a conflict of interest when it comes to Bar, they argued. Netanyahu has rejected this claim, saying the investigation into Qatar is being used to prevent Bar’s dismissal.

He said this was part of a broader push for power by the “deep state,” as Netanyahu termed it in a video last month.

Bar’s dismissal became the latest flashpoint in a societal clash that has been simmering for years and which came to a boiling point in 2022 when Netanyahu’s current government was sworn in. It ran on a campaign promise to lead a judicial reform to restore to elected politicians powers that the judiciary and other unelected officials have incrementally taken over.

Netanyahu is standing trial for corruption following his indictment in 2019. He has denied any wrongdoing and said the trials were lawfare designed to eliminate him politically. Netanyahu’s opponents said the judicial reform was designed to extricate him. They have staged weekly demonstrations across the country, protesting what they describe as his attack of the judiciary, among other institutions, for personal reasons.

In court on Tuesday, Attorney Zion Amir, representing the government, said the law places the authority to appoint and fire the Shin Bet head in the hands of the government. He asked the three justices—Yitzhak Amit, Noam Sohlberg and Daphne Barak-Erez—to throw out the petitions against the dismissal.

Sohlberg replied that this is “beyond dispute,” but the High Court convened to examine “the procedure and fashion in which this authority was exercised.“

In its response to the eight petitions against the dismissal, the government wrote: “If the position of the petitioners and the Attorney General is accepted, then we will have an ‘independent’ armed intelligence force that’s not subject to the authority of the democratically-elected government.”

The High Court “is not the appropriate forum to decide who will head the Shin Bet. It lacks the authority, tools to do so and accountability for these decisions, which are all in the hands of the public through its elected officials,” it added.

Yair Golan, the head of the Democrats, a left-wing opposition party, appeared to suggest the protest at the court was orchestrated and part of the “poison machine,” a term that Netanyahu’s critics often use against his supporters.

“The chaos in the High Court hall follows an order from above,” said Golan, a retired general. “The aim is to terrorize the justices. This is how the mafia operates. The struggle between the rule of law and the defendant, Netanyahu, has never been so clear. We will fight. And we will win. A democratic, law-abiding Israel will win.”

(JNS.org)