SUNDAY April 6, 2025 |
By thenewsdesk.ng
The prime minister and the government describe the petitions against the firing of Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar as “nonsense,” and “lacking legal foundation, an appropriate cause, and a factual basis,” in their response to the motions to the High Court of Justice against Bar’s dismissal, The Times Of Israel reports.
The response is filed by attorney Zion Amir, who is serving as independent counsel for the respondents since the attorney general opposed the firing of Bar.
Amir writes in the response that the petitions against the removal of the Shin Bet chief from office are “an attempt to expropriate from the hands of the government of Israel, and by extension from the hands of the public which elected it, its authority and most foundational obligation for the security of the State of Israel and its citizens.”
Amir says the petitions are not seeking proper administrative processes but rather “overturning governmental arrangements” whereby “the judicial branch will take the reins of government from the executive branch,” and, specifically regarding the Shin Bet, in violation of the 2002 law for that institution which specifically gives the prime minister and the government the power to hire and fire the head of the agency.
“The court is not the forum to determine who heads the Shin Bet. It does not have the authority, it does not have the tools, and it does not have the responsibility which stems from these decisions, which are all in the hands of the public through its elected officials,” writes Amir.
The petitioners argue that although the prime minister and government have the authority to hire and fire the Shin Bet head, such decisions, like all administrative decisions, are subject to judicial review.
They argue that the decision to fire Bar was a political and personal one due to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s frustration with Bar for non-professional reasons, and that the decision was tainted by a conflict of interest for the premier since the Shin Bet is currently conducting an investigation into Netanyahu’s close aides for allegedly doing public relations work for Qatar while working as media advisers for the prime minister.
On Friday, Bar wrote a letter to the High Court claiming Netanyahu repeatedly demanded he inform the judges in the premier’s criminal trial that the prime minister could not regularly testify in court due to security concerns.
Bar said his refusal to heed Netanyahu’s request was the reason for the breakdown in trust between the two.
