In a dramatic denouement of a bitter fight between the government and the judiciary, the High Court of Justice ruled on Wednesday that the cabinet’s decision to fire Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar was made “improperly,” “unlawfully,” and while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had a conflict of interest due to the ongoing Shin Bet investigations into his close aides.

Using harsh language, President of the court, Judge Isaac Amit, lambasted the government’s failure to give proper cause for firing Bar, writing that the decision was based on “a thin and shaky factual foundation, at best” and that the decision had therefore been “arbitrary.”

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara swiftly told Netanyahu he was barred from appointing a new Shin Bet chief while she worked out the implications of the ruling, due to the court’s finding he had a conflict of interest over the matter.

But Netanyahu described the court ruling as “disgraceful,” alleging it harmed Israel’s democracy and its national security, and, dismissing the attorney general’s warning, declared that he would appoint a new Shin Bet head regardless.

Because Bar announced in April that he would step down as head of the Shin Bet on June 15, the court said it would not issue any operative orders over the matter since it is now moot.

But in the language of its ruling, the court made clear that Bar’s dismissal by the government was fundamentally flawed, meaning that it would likely have led to some form of court intervention had Bar not resigned.

Amit, in his opinion for the majority, also made clear the importance of the case to the ongoing ability of the Shin Bet to act in an independent and apolitical manner, given its task, among others, of preserving Israel’s democratic regime.

The severe flaws in the decision to fire Bar indicated, Amit wrote, “a neglect of basic concepts concerning the Shin Bet and the position of the head of the Shin Bet as an apolitical and independent state official who owes, first and foremost, a duty of loyalty to the public.”

Judge Daphne Barak Erez backed Amit’s opinion, but Deputy President Noam Sohlberg dissented, saying the court should not rule on theoretical issues, especially in light of the fierce societal dispute over Bar’s dismissal and the ongoing conflict between the branches of government.

Sohlberg did acknowledge, however, that there were “significant difficulties” with Bar’s dismissal.

On March 16, Netanyahu announced that he intended to fire Bar, and the Shin Bet chief was dismissed by cabinet vote on March 21 on the basis of Netanyahu’s assertion that he had lost confidence in Bar’s ability to do the job.

Government watchdog groups petitioned the High Court against the decision however, alleging Bar was dismissed........

© The Times of Israel