Analyst

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s efforts to dismiss the president of (Shin Bet), Ronin Bar, are still raising widespread controversy, amid accusations of seeking to enhance his control of security institutions, in a move described by analysts as rushing from the dismantling of the alleged Israeli democracy.

Israel is witnessing a sharp division about the backgrounds of the decision, as the opposition parties submitted a petition to the Supreme Court to stop the dismissal, considering that it came with personal motives, especially in light of the Shin Bet investigations with employees of Netanyahu’s office on alleged corruption files, while Netanyahu defended his decision, that “the insecurity” was behind the end of the bar tasks.

According to the expert in Israeli affairs, Muhannad Mustafa, this step constitutes an unusual legal precedent in the history of Israel, as it is the first time that the president of the “Shin Bet” was dismissed instead of his voluntary resignation.

In his speech to the “Path of Events” program, Mustafa considered that the dismissal comes within Netanyahu’s efforts to reshape the state agencies and impose personal loyalty within the security system.

Mustafa added that Bar had made bold investigations into the attack of October 7, 2023, which concluded that the Israeli government was responsible for the security failure, which angered Netanyahu, which seeks to “silence any voice that reveals his involvement in the failure of the security system.”

This proposal is intersecting with what the military correspondent of the Israeli Broadcasting Authority, Eyal Alamia, explained that the “Shin Bet” is not just a security apparatus concerned with combating Palestinian operations, but rather represents one of the pillars of the security and intelligence system in Israel.

Alamia pointed out that Bar’s ability to reach sensitive information made him an obstacle to Netanyahu’s agenda, which seeks to get rid of everyone who may pose a threat to his political survival, he said.

An alleged democracy

For his part, the Secretary -General of the Palestinian National Initiative, Mustafa Al -Barghouthi, considered that the ongoing conflict between Netanyahu and his opponents in the security and judicial institutions reveals “the acceleration of the alleged Israeli democracy collapse.”

In this context, Al -Barghouti confirms that the occupying state was not a democracy in the first place, as it “practiced racial discrimination against the Palestinians since its foundation, but today it turns into a fascist regime that devours itself.”

He pointed out that the settlement of internal accounts in Israel reflects a double failure of the Netanyahu government, which is its inability to achieve the goals of the war on Gaza, and its failure to restore Israeli prisoners by force.

He added that the Israeli society began to realize the scale of the catastrophe to which Netanyahu led them, but the structure of the political system allows him to survive despite the decline in its popularity.

In this context, Muhannad Mustafa notes that the current crisis is only an extension of the attempt by the judicial coup led by Netanyahu in 2023, where he seeks to reshape the state institutions to serve his personal interests, stressing that the dismissal of Bar is only a new station in the path of dismantling Israel from within.

Dark dictatorship

Mustafa is cited by Israeli press reports that warned that Israel has been on the threshold of a “dark Middle Eastern dictatorship”, according to the description of some Israeli commentators, in light of Netanyahu’s insistence to tighten his grip on the judiciary and security institutions.

On the judicial level, the dismissal faces a legal dilemma, as the government’s judicial advisor warned that Netanyahu may be involved in conflicting interests, given that the “Shin Bet” was investigating cases related to his office.

She considered that the dismissal of a bar at this time may be an attempt to cover up sensitive investigations, which may lead the Supreme Court to intervene.

As for militarily, he warned that the continuation of the crisis may lead to a cracking in the army and the security services, especially in light of the increasing anger among the reserve leaders, who previously threatened to stop performing military service in protest against the government’s policies.

On the other hand, Al -Barghouti believes that Netanyahu may resort to the escalation of the war on Gaza as a way to distract attention from its internal crises, warning that “the more internal pressures, the greater the frequency of the Israeli aggression against the Palestinians.”

He added that the Israeli government is seeking to export its crisis abroad by expanding the circle of bombing and assassinations in the West Bank, Lebanon and Syria.