Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir launched a major attack on Monday against Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, who is facing immediate dismissal, accusing him of attempting a "coup."

For weeks, the Israeli political arena has been riven by escalating disagreements between the right-wing bloc in the government led by Benjamin Netanyahu and the head of the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency). The dispute culminated in Ben-Gvir's dismissal, but the judiciary has frozen the decision pending appeals. The crisis intensified after Hebrew media revealed a document showing that the General Security Service (Shin Bet), led by Ronen Bar, had conducted an investigation into extremist infiltration within the Israeli police, which reports to Ben-Gvir.

Ben-Gvir called for Bar to be investigated over a document Israeli media reported was issued last September, in which he stated, "We have classified the spread of the extreme right in law enforcement institutions as a dangerous phenomenon, and preventing it is part of the Shin Bet's mission. Given the involvement of political echelons, this must be done with utmost caution."

According to the document, Barr instructed the agency's personnel to continue collecting evidence and testimonies regarding "the involvement of the political level in the actions of the security level, which led to the illegal use of force."

The revelation of this investigation by far-right journalist Amit Segal on Channel 12, coinciding with a meeting of the Israeli Security Cabinet on Sunday, prompted Ben-Gvir to attack the head of the Shin Bet.

"Spying on politicians"

While Ben-Gvir claimed to have learned of the document from his advisors, Israeli sources confirmed, according to Channel 13, that he had seen it after it was published on Channel 12, and that he had seized the opportunity to attack Bar, asking him during a cabinet meeting whether he was responsible for it. Bar vehemently denied this and stressed that he had not issued any orders to investigate him.

According to Channel 13, the extremist minister left the meeting room, then returned minutes later, carrying the documents and throwing them on the cabinet table. He said, in words reported by ministers present at the meeting: “We are talking about a lying, criminal head of the Shin Bet, whose place is in prison, not here... He heads a secret agency that spies on the political level, orders the collection of information about them to incriminate them, and is trying to carry out a coup.”

Netanyahu disavows

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office quickly denied that he had instructed the head of the Shin Bet to investigate Ben-Gvir, describing the incident as a "blatant hoax" and describing it as "undermining democracy, an attempt to bring down the right-wing government, and resembling what takes place in repressive regimes."

The Shin Bet also denied last night the existence of such an investigation, but did not rule out the possibility that the agency was looking into the matter.

Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper revealed on Monday that Netanyahu had received information from Bar about extremist infiltration within the police last June and asked him to provide conclusive evidence and coordinate with Ben-Gvir, but the Shin Bet chief failed to comply. The newspaper reported that Bar told ministers during a cabinet meeting yesterday: "The ministers are accusing me of treason and tomorrow they will threaten to execute me."

This escalating crisis comes amid a series of problems plaguing the Israeli political arena, including the dismissal of Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, which has prompted opponents of Israel's right-wing government to escalate their protests, calling for mass demonstrations to reject these measures.

Protests continue in Israel amid ongoing petitions to the Supreme Court against the dismissal of Bar and Miara.

Israel's Supreme Court will hold a hearing on April 8 to consider the appeals against the government's decision regarding Bar, while another hearing will be scheduled regarding the petitions to dismiss Mayara.