National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir on Thursday demanded the dismissal of Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar and stormed out of a cabinet meeting. The Prime Minister and several ministers reportedly defended Bar, but Ben Gvir reminded them that Bar was responsible for the failure on October 7, in addition to his attempt to sabotage Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount.
Let’s unpack.
Last week, one day after the 9 B’Av fast which featured Ben Gvir’s ascent to the Temple Mount, the head of Shin Bet Ronen Bar wrote a letter condemning “Jewish terrorism,” according to News 12. He sent the letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Justice Minister Yariv Levin, Education Minister Yoav Kisch, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, Interior Minister Moshe Arbel, Minister of Religious Services Michael Malchieli, and AG Gali Baharav-Miara. According to the report, the letter was not sent to Itamar Ben Gvir.
“I am writing you this letter with pain, with great concern, as a Jew, as an Israeli, and as a security official, about the increasing phenomenon of Jewish terrorism of the Hilltop Youth,'” Bar wrote.
“The Hilltop Youth phenomenon has long since become a widespread hotbed of violent activity against Palestinians,” Bar explained. “I have never connected with the concept of ‘nationalist crime.’ It is not a crime because violence is used to instill fear, in other words, it’s terrorism. It is not a ‘nationalist crime’ and certainly not a national one, because it challenges our nationality.”
According to Bar, “The phenomenon takes place in the shadow of the security events, the police’s waning effectiveness, and there may even be a sense of covert backing, gaining volume and changing its appearance: the action of a few turns into the activity of hundreds. There has been a significant expansion of the scope of the participants in this phenomenon. There is a loss of fear from administrative detention because of their good prison conditions, and the money they receive from Knesset members after their release, along with the granting of legitimacy and praise, coupled with the delegitimization campaign against security forces.”
Bar warned that “we are on the brink of a significant, reality-changing process. The damage to the State of Israel, especially at this time, and to the overwhelming majority of the settler community, is indescribable: global delegitimization even among our good friends, the deployment of IDF forces that face difficulty carrying out all their missions as it is – and they are not intended to handle these missions either, these revenge attacks that ignite another arena in the multi-arena war in which we exist, the introduction of additional elements into the circle of terrorism, those that were not there before, in favor of revenge – a slippery slope that supports the feeling of a lack of governance, yet another difficulty in creating regional alliances that are needed against the Shiite axis, and above all: a great stain on Judaism and all of us.”
THE PROBLEM WITH RONNEN BAR’S LETTER
Much like the Biden administration which has been attacking and ruining the lives of a growing group of Israeli Jews who are dubbed “violent settlers,” despite the absence of proof in police and court records, Shin Bet Chief Ronen Bar’s torrent of angry rebuke also lacks detail, and most crucially, context.
Hilltop Youths are not an organized group by any stretch. They act in small, local groups, most often in response to local events of Arab violations of law and order. They responded as readily to the call of the Gaza envelope kibbutzim on October 7 and rushed down south to fight and support them, as they are doing when Arabs conduct drive-by shooting at Jews in Judea and Samaria. The record shows that the bulk of incidents involving Hilltop Youths began with an Arab attack, from the murder of Israeli shoppers in the town of Huwara to an attack on Israeli shepherds in the grazing areas between Jewish and Arab settlements.
By omitting details and context, the Shin Bet chief can point at a long list of clashes and point the finger at the Hillside Youths. In that, he ignores the well-published fact that the majority of those incidents also involved the IDF and Border Guard, who, upon their arrival, figured out very quickly who was to blame, and clashed with the Arabs on the scene.
Bar’s letter was a direct attack on Ben Gvir, whom Bar and the rest of the security establishment view as a threat – not to peace in the Middle East, that powder keg has long since been ignited. Ben Gvir and the national-religious contingency in Netanyahu’s government (including ministers from four different parties) is a threat to the security establishment. As long as Ben Gvir, Smotrich et al are still in charge, the people who failed Israel on October 7 are not going to get away with it.
This is why Bar focuses on Ben Gvir, attempting to create the illusion that the minister who never made a secret of his concern about Arab violence would, someday, set fire to the region with his “extremism” and “fanaticism.”
According to Bar, “The shows we’ve seen on the Temple Mount (Ben Gvir’s ascent – DI) are a tangible expression of this concern. Progress in this direction will lead to much bloodshed and will change the face of the State of Israel beyond recognition. I believe that an unequivocal statement is required from end to end that this is an illegal and dangerous activity – in terms of security and of values.”
See how the head of the Shin Bet morphed the right of Jews to pray everywhere they wish into a moral failure, not just a security threat? Freedom of religion is no longer a value – appeasing antisemitic Muslims is.
Bar demanded an interagency effort to eradicate the phenomenon – that is, both Jews praying on the Temple Mount and Jews hitting back when Arab terrorists assault their communities. “I am convinced that this should be one of the main goals of the government before it is too late,” the clandestine policeman-turned-prophet of doom said.
CONCEPTZIA MON AMOUR
After storming out of the cabinet meeting, Ben Gvir tweeted: “Instead of Ronan Bar’s ending his job in disgrace given the great disaster for which he is responsible, a failure in intelligence and the constant turning of a blind eye to terrorism and the enemy that was planning mass murder for years, as well as his collaboration with the protest movement that weakened the army –
“This failed man of the Conceptzia brazenly dares to incite against an Israeli minister in Israel, interfere in politics and policy issues, and give grades to politicians. The head of the Shin Bet is trying to create spins and attack Minister Ben Gvir to divert the discussion from his responsibility for the Conceptzia and the failure on October 7. This will not help him. After Haliva (former Military Intelligence head Major General Aharon Haliva who resigned in shame – DI), he’s next in line to go now!”
GALLANT’S GOLD
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant tweeted: “Faced with the irresponsible actions of Minister Ben Gvir that endanger the national security of the State of Israel and create an internal division in the nation, the head of the General Security Service (the Shin Bet – DI) and his people are performing their duty and warning against the serious consequences of these actions.”
Did you catch it? The Shin Bet is warning now – not about Hamas attacks, about Ben Gvir.
Gallant should do standup.
