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The head of Israel’s domestic intelligence service, Ronen Bar, on Monday announced his resignation.
Bar stated that he would step down on 15 June, six weeks after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attempted to remove him from office.
“After 35 years of service, in order to allow for an orderly process of appointing a permanent successor and a professional handover, I will end my role on 15 June 2025,” he said.
The Shin Bet, which handles counter-terrorism investigations, has reportedly been at the centre of a growing political battle, pitting Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition government against an array of critics, ranging from members of the security establishment to families of hostages in Gaza.
On 16 March, Netanyahu declared that he had long ago lost confidence in Bar, emphasising that trust in the head of the domestic security service—whose roles include counter-terrorism and the security of government officials—was especially crucial during a time of war.
The Israeli prime minister’s decision to sack Bar triggered protests nationwide, with critics arguing that the government was undermining key state institutions and endangering the very foundations of Israeli democracy.
The Israeli Supreme Court later temporarily froze the government’s bid to dismiss Bar, who claimed that Netanyahu sought to fire him after he refused to carry out requests that included spying on Israeli protesters and interfering with the prime minister’s ongoing corruption trial.
Responding to the accusations, Netanyahu accused Bar of lying.
The controversy followed more than two years of hostility between Netanyahu supporters and elements of the security and defence establishment, a tension worsened by the blame apportioned for the failures that allowed Hamas’ 7 October 2023 attack—the gravest security disaster in Israel’s history and the catalyst for the war in Gaza.
Bar, who had been one of the principal Israeli negotiators in ceasefire and hostage release talks, had already indicated his intention to resign before the end of his term, accepting responsibility for Shin Bet’s failure to prevent the attack.
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