Netanyahu turning Israel into ‘banana republic’, says former PM
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak says the Shin Bet affidavit reveals that Netanyahu is turning the country into a “banana republic”.
“This is the test of the Attorney General and the High Court. If a state of emergency is not declared, with the backing of the High Court, it could lead to civil war. This is also a test of the protest. Without hundreds of thousands in the streets, the High Court could stutter,” Barak wrote on X.
“If we don’t remove the dictator now, Israel is in existential danger,” he added.
Israeli politician says findings of Shin Bet affidavit ‘endanger’ unity of people
The chairman of the Yisrael Beiteinu party, Avigdor Liberman, says the Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar’s affidavit, which states Netanyahu asked him to provide details on anti-government protesters, “seriously harms the unity of the people and national resilience, and endangers our future and existence”.
“These are serious findings that require the establishment of a state commission of inquiry,” Liberman wrote on X.
However, he said that Bar’s revelations did not absolve Netanyahu or Bar from the security failures that led to Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,139 people.
Netanyahu says Shin Bet chief ‘falsely’ accused PM of demanding loyalty
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s office says the chief of the domestic security service, also known as the Shin Bet, falsely accused the prime minister of demanding personal loyalty in a Supreme Court affidavit.
“Ronen Bar submitted a false affidavit to the Supreme Court today, which will be thoroughly refuted in due course,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.
Bar, who Israeli media reported would be resigning from his position in mid-May, has been at the centre of a dispute between Netanyahu and the Shin Bet after the prime minister said he no longer trusted Bar following the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack security failure.
Bar’s sacking last month triggered protests. His dismissal was later suspended by the Supreme Court.
