The Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) is the Jewish state's primary internal security service, focusing primarily on internal security, exposing terrorist rings, and intelligence efforts in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Also known as the Shabak, it makes up one of the three arms of Israel's intelligence community, alongside the Mossad (foreign intelligence) and Aman (military intelligence).
Like the Mossad, despite being a security agency, the Shin Bet does not operate under the Defense Ministry and instead answers to the prime minister.
The current head of the Shin Bet is Ronen Bar, appointed in 2021 by then-prime minister Naftali Bennett.
An earlier IDF statement stressed that any communication by IDF personnel with the political echelon requires the approval of the chief of staff.
“[...] In almost every sector, a surprise raid on our forces could succeed, undermining the rule ‘we will be surprised but not defeated.’"
The appointment was made despite a High Court ruling that the dismissal of Shin Bet head Ronen Bar was illegal due to Netanyahu's conflict of interest in the "Qatargate" affair.
Netanyahu decided to appoint a new man and has now dared Baharav-Miara and the High Court to stop him.
Many of the prime minister’s claims were inaccurate, misleading, contradictory, or conspiratorial.
The High Court ruling stated that due to the Qatargate case, the prime minister and the government's firing of Bar was a conflict of interest.
Both Israelis, from the town of Nesher, were lured in by Tehran due to millions in gambling debt and the promise to help pay off their debts.
The suspect had reportedly collected intelligence around the hospital where former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett was hospitalized.
How does a modern democracy safeguard its future? The answer lies not in concentrating power but in rigorously maintaining the delicate architecture of checks and balances.
The lab contained more than 200 explosive devices and approximately 150 kg. of materials used in the manufacturing of explosives.
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