Former Shin Bet chief Yoram Cohen said Monday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked him, as head of the Shin Bet, to revoke then-minister Naftali Bennett's membership in the security cabinet. The request came after Netanyahu heard that Bennett had been dismissed from the elite commando unit, the General Staff Company, due to a "loyalty issue."

Cohen added, during an interview with Israel's Army Radio, that Netanyahu asked him to revoke Bennett's membership in the cabinet during a private conversation between them, saying, "If he was dismissed due to a loyalty issue, then apparently he cannot be a member of the cabinet."

Cohen continued, saying that he rejected Netanyahu's request, "He didn't ask me to confirm this, but rather to reject his membership in the cabinet, as if he had no security classification."

Cohen added that he told Netanyahu, "Are you serious about this demand? First, what is the connection between what happened 30 years ago and what we are discussing now? Second, I will not implement it."

Cohen's remarks come against the backdrop of the conflict between former Shin Bet chiefs and Netanyahu after the latter fired the current Shin Bet chief, Ronen Bar. Cohen said, "Isn't it shocking and disturbing that the prime minister would approach the head of the Shin Bet and ask him to revoke a membership, or to use his influence to remove a political opponent? And by chance, I said 'no,' so what happens if someone else says 'yes'?"

Cohen noted that after a sensitive military operation, Netanyahu asked him to use "the Shin Bet's intelligence collection tool against all the heads of the intelligence services who were aware of this operation. It seemed to me that carrying out this request was insane. Without specific suspicion, I had to monitor all the heads of the services. Do you understand what it means to monitor all of Israel's intelligence services—the head of the Shin Bet, the General Staff, the Shin Bet, and all the security leadership—in depth?"

Opposition leader Yair Lapid described Cohen's remarks as "nothing less than an earthquake," adding that "Netanyahu tried to use the Shin Bet to fabricate a lie and eliminate a political opponent. That's not how a prime minister behaves. That's how the head of a criminal organization behaves."

Former Shin Bet chief Nadav Argaman told Channel 12 last month, in the context of Bar's dismissal, that if Netanyahu acted illegally, he would reveal "everything I know about it." He added that the Shin Bet chiefs "know a lot" of information, and that "there are things we know about that pose a threat to the security of the State of Israel, and we will use them according to the law."

Bar submitted a letter to the Supreme Court, which will hear a petition against his dismissal tomorrow. The letter outlined the reasons for his dismissal, including his refusal to provide Netanyahu with a position preventing the continuation of Netanyahu's trial, as well as his demand that Netanyahu "exercise Shin Bet powers against citizens" demonstrating against Netanyahu and the government. Bar wrote that his refusal to Netanyahu's demands led to Netanyahu's "loss of trust" in him.

Barr requested that the facts be reviewed in a court session not open to the public.