Israel’s domestic security chief Ronen Bar has said he would stand down on June 15 following weeks of tension with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose decision to fire him was frozen by the country’s top court, AFP reports.
“After 35 years of service, in order to allow an orderly process for appointing a permanent successor and for professional handover, I will end my role on June 15, 2025,” the Shin Bet chief said during a memorial event for fallen officers of the agency.
Bar also addressed the agency’s failure to prevent Hamas’s unprecedented attack on Israel in October 2023.
“After years of many fronts, in one night, on the southern front, the sky fell. All systems collapsed. The Shin Bet failed to provide an early warning,” he said.
Bar recently sent a sworn statement to the Israeli supreme court accusing Netanyahu of demanding personal loyalty and ordering him to spy on anti-government protesters.
