Israeli ministers have redoubled their attacks on the embattled head of the country\u2019s security agency, claiming he is undermining the government with a politically motivated investigation into a Shin Bet agent. <\/p>\n
The agent, who has not been named, was arrested last Wednesday on suspicion of committing security-related offenses. Police say he used his position and access to Shin Bet systems to pass classified information to unauthorized parties \u201con several occasions.\u201d The Shin Bet, officially known as the Israel Security Agency, is the country\u2019s equivalent of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). <\/p>\n
The arrest of the agent deepens an already bitter feud between members of the government and the leader of Shin Bet, Ronen Bar, who has said he will resign in the next few weeks. Ministers accuse him of mounting a number of politically motivated investigations designed to discredit the government. The acrimony soared following the QatarGate affair, which has ensnared two close associates of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. <\/p>\n
In a statement on Tuesday, the Shin Bet acknowledged the leak and the subsequent investigation into the agent\u2019s actions. It said that during the Gaza war, there has been a rise in leaks of classified information by employees of security agencies. More than 20 leaks-related investigations have been carried out, it said. <\/p>\n
Last month, Netanyahu said he had lost confidence in Bar, but the Shin Bet chief has received support from the opposition. <\/p>\n
The suspect\u2019s lawyers say the information that he passed to a minister and two journalists was \u201cof immense public importance\u201d but posed no threat to public safety. <\/p>\n
Amichai Chikli, the minister who received the information from the accused Shin Bet agent, said he was a hero for passing it on. <\/p>\n
Chikli claimed the information showed that Bar \u201cwas obsessively spying on a sitting minister\u201d and that the agent had \u201crevealed that the parts of the Shin Bet\u2019s investigation into the circumstances of the (Gaza) war\u2019s outbreak that were made public present a false and distorted picture.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cIsrael has never had a Shin Bet chief as reckless, arrogant, and incompetent as (Bar),\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
The agent\u2019s lawyers said the information he\u2019d provided presented a more complex account of Shin Bet\u2019s conduct before October 7 than was previously published. Hamas-led militants attacked Israel that day in 2023, killing more than 1,200 people and igniting the ongoing war in Gaza. <\/p>\n
Commenting on the arrest, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said: \u201cThis is what a real regime coup looks like.\u201d He described Bar as a \u201cdangerous individual\u201d who uses the agency\u2019s intelligence and investigative tools \u201cas instruments to retaliate against politicians and journalists.\u201d <\/p>\n
The government voted to dismiss Bar late last month. But Israel\u2019s Supreme Court froze the decision after the Attorney General said the firing could not proceed without the approval of a special committee. <\/p>\n
Netanyahu\u2019s Likud party portrayed the accused agent as a whistleblower who had exposed how Bar had \u201ctransformed parts of the Shin Bet into a private militia of the deep state.\u201d The party accused Bar of working with Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, another target of right-wing ire. <\/p>\n
Yair Lapid, the head of Israel\u2019s opposition, rushed to Bar\u2019s defense, saying the attacks against him were \u201ca dangerous bloodbath for him and the Shin Bet members whose fighters protect the state\u2019s security.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cThe Israeli government is a government of criminals that attacks investigators who investigate offenses against state security,\u201d Lapid said on social media. <\/p>\n
Critics have linked the attempt to fire Bar directly to the QatarGate affair, in which court documents show the two Netanyahu associates arrested by Shin Bet are suspected of receiving money from Qatar and working to portray the country positively in the media. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhen Netanyahu gets in trouble with Qatar he tries to fire the investigator,\u201d said Yair Golan, leader of Israel\u2019s left-wing Democrats party. \u201cHe will do everything to save himself. Himself and his mouthpieces. Netanyahu is dangerous to Israel.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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