Netanyahu Denies Israeli Security Chief’s Surveillance Allegations

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has denied allegations that he asked Israel’s domestic spy chief to surveil protesting citizens and demanded personal loyalty.

The claims come from Ronen Bar, the head of Israel’s internal security agency, Shin Bet. Bar’s allegations are from an affidavit made public on Monday as part of a legal case about Netanyahu’s attempted firing of the security chief in March. 

“The prime minister expressed to me, on more than one occasion, his desire to see the Shin Bet act against citizens involved in protest activity and demonstrations against the government,” Bar claimed in the court document. 

“For instance, I was asked to provide information about the identities of Israeli citizens and protest activists who had followed security protectees. I was also made aware of an expectation to monitor ‘protest funders,’” the security chief alleged. 

Netanyahu’s office was resolute that Bar was lying about his interactions with the prime minister. 

“Ronen Bar submitted a false affidavit to the Supreme Court today that will soon be refuted in detail,” the prime minister’s team said. 

Israel’s Supreme Court has prevented Bar from being removed as the executive of Shin Bet by the prime minister pending a “creative solution.” Bar’s dismissal occurred after members of his agency began investigating Netanyahu press aides over connections to the Gulf state of Qatar.

Jonatan Urich and Eli Feldstein, who have served as media advisers to the prime minister, are being investigated over whether they attempted to promote a positive image of Qatar in the Israeli news media.

Court records alleged that Feldstein was paid by an Israeli intermediary, which in turn was funded by a pro-Qatar lobbying group named Third Circle. It would be a potential conflict of interest to have such high-ranking advisers to the prime minister also quietly lobbying for a foreign country—especially given that the Gulf state has hosted leaders of Hamas, one of Israel’s chief enemies, in the past. 

The prime minister has faced personal investigations, as well as into his advisers before. He was indicted on charges of bribery, breach of trust, and fraud in 2019. The trial is currently ongoing.

Nor is Bar the only top Israeli official Netanyahu has clashed with over the past few months. Last November, he also fired Israel Defense Minister Yoav Gallant after the defense official had questioned Netanyahu’s commitment to “total victory” over Hamas.

Some critics of the prime minister have alleged that he is prolonging the war with Hamas for political reasons. The American-educated Israeli leader has promised to continue the fight for “for our very own existence until victory” even as he faces some members of the Israeli public that have grown war weary.

“If we surrender to Hamas’ demands now, all the tremendous achievements gained by our soldiers, our fallen, and our wounded heroes—those achievements will simply be lost,” the prime minister said in a recent statement.

The post Netanyahu Denies Israeli Security Chief’s Surveillance Allegations appeared first on The Daily Signal.