Thousands of Israelis are protesting on Thursday evening outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office in Jerusalem, where the government is convening to approve the dismissal of Shin Bet head Ronen Bar.
Despite the heavy rain, protesters gathered at the location, singing protest songs associated with the wave of demonstrations against the judicial overhaul.
Israel's security cabinet is meeting Thursday night to vote on the dismissal of Ronen Bar, the Shin Bet security agency director, despite the attorney general stating that the move requires approval from the advisory committee on senior appointments.
The cabinet meeting to approve the dismissal is expected to last several hours. Bar was invited to respond to the allegations against him but did not attend. Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara is expected to participate in the meeting.
In a letter to ministers, Bar referenced the ongoing investigation into ties between Netanyahu's top aides and Qatar. "Significant investigative steps are underway, and disrupting them through a sudden and rushed dismissal – based on entirely baseless claims – reeks of foreign interests and an unprecedented conflict of interest," he wrote.
Bar warned that firing the Shin Bet director at this moment – at the prime minister's initiative – sends a dangerous message to those involved in the investigation and could jeopardize its outcome. He also stressed the national security risks of such a move. Additionally, he criticized the lack of substantiated claims justifying his dismissal: "Despite my request, no concrete examples were provided," he noted.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, at a holiday celebration, April 2023.Credit: Kobi Gideon / GPO
He also noted that he had been removed from leading negotiations on the hostage deal. "My removal harmed the team and did not advance the release of the hostages at all," he stated, emphasizing his commitment to bringing them home, "especially in the current window of opportunity."
Bar further stressed that the most recent hostage deal "was achieved based on the objectives set by the prime minister, was brought by him for government approval, and was approved with his support." He added, "In light of this, there is no basis for claims of a lack of trust."
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara and Shin Bet head Ronen Bar, July 2024.Credit: Olivier Fitoussi
The proposal to dismiss Bar, who would end his term on April 20 if it passes, is expected to get broad support in the cabinet. "If the prime minister says there is no trust between him and the head of the Shin Bet, it's an unhealthy and abnormal situation, and there's no other choice but to replace him," said one cabinet minister.
Carmi Gillon, a former head of the Shin Bet, said, "It's possible that tonight we are standing here at one of the last democratic protests in the State of Israel.
Gillon added: "For the sake of his personal survival, Netanyahu is sacrificing the Shin Bet tonight, the attorney general on Sunday, and later this week, the destruction of the status of the Supreme Court."
"On Sunday, March 23, 2025, the constitutional crisis will explode on us like an atomic bomb, ending Israel's democratic regime," he told protesters.
Chair of the Democrats party Yair Golan – who was pushed to the ground by police during an earlier protest on Thursday – said in his speech that Israel will either be a liberal democracy, or will cease to be.
"We managed to delay the judicial coup," he said, "We were the first to recover on October 8. With our pressure, we returned the hostages. We will save the Israel. We will force this government to hold free elections and dissolve the Knesset, because they will have no choice."
Protesters in Jerusalem, on Thursday.Credit: Ammar Awad/Reuters
Karine Nahon, Dean of the School of Communication at Reichman University, said: "Control over the Shin Bet would allow Netanyahu, with the help of administrative and technological tools, to intimidate, politically eliminate opponents, silence critics of the government. It would harm the most fundamental aspect of democracy: Freedom."
"Who will be able to ensure our safety? Who will guarantee our freedom if it depends on the whims of the ruler," she asked.
A person holds an Israeli flag as people take part in a rally against the Israeli government and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and demanding the release of all hostages from Gaza, outside the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem, on Thursday.Credit: Ammar Awad/Reuters
Some protesters marched to Netanyahu's office from Gaza Street in Jerusalem, where thousands had gathered earlier outside his private residence.
Police blocked the protesters a few hundred meters from the house, where barriers had been set up. As protesters attempted to breach the barriers, police used force to stop them, spraying skunk water from a water cannon. Police were also seen smashing the car windows of protesters who blocked a road in Jerusalem.
Police using water cannons against protesters, on Thursday.Credit: Oren Ben Hakoon
Some activists spent the night in tents in Independence Park in Jerusalem as part of the protest and plan to remain there tonight to continue their demonstration on Friday.
Former Israeli politician and minister Dan Meridor said, "I am convinced that when [Ex-Israeli Prime Minister] Yitzhak Shamir called Netanyahu a 'messenger of destruction,' he could never have imagined the devastation Netanyahu would bring upon Israeli democracy and the wonderful Zionist project to which three generations of Jews have dedicated their lives."
"We have pushed racism and Kahanism out of legitimacy. Did anyone ever imagine that a disciple and admirer of Rabbi Kahane would become a minister in Israel? That racism would become part of the legitimate discourse here, in the Jewish state, the ultimate victims of racism?", he added.
Credit: Olivier Fitoussi
Attorney General Baharav-Miara said on Tuesday that Bar cannot be dismissed without the approval of the Senior Appointments Advisory Committee, in accordance with a 2016 government decision requiring the committee's recommendation for the dismissal of anyone it appointed.
However, the government announced on Wednesday that Bar's ousting should be expedited without the need for the committee's referral, asserting that the decision to hold the vote supersedes the previous ruling, "due to the urgency, nature and consequences of the decision."