Israel’s government announced Tuesday it had reversed the decision to dismiss domestic security chief Ronen Bar, a day after he said he would resign following weeks of tensions with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“The government has decided to revoke its decision of March 20, 2025” to sack Bar, it said in a document submitted to the Supreme Court, a copy of which was obtained by AFP.
The government’s move to fire Bar, head of the Shin Bet security agency, had been frozen by the top court and triggered mass protests.
Bar has contested his sacking in a legal case that has divided the nation and brought out conflicting testimonies of events leading up to Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023 attack.
Israeli left-leaning newspaper Haaretz reported that the latest move to revoke the dismissal appears “aimed at preempting a potentially precedent-setting high court ruling on petitions challenging Bar’s ouster.”
Bar on Monday said he would stand down on June 15.
In a recent sworn statement to the Supreme Court, he accused Netanyahu of demanding personal loyalty and ordering him to spy on anti-government protesters.
On Sunday, Netanyahu filed an affidavit of his own to the court calling Bar a “liar.”
