Former head of Shabak (Internal Intelligence) from 2011 to 2016, Yoram Cohen, claimed that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked him to do “illegitimate and legally questionable things” while he was in office, something he believes could happen again with future leaders of the agency.
Cohen made these comments in an interview with Channel 12 television broadcast on Friday, one day after the government dismissed the current Shabak leader, Ronen Bar, in a controversial decision that will take effect on April 10.
In a statement on the matter, Netanyahu's office stated that Bar's departure will be effective before a new director is appointed by the stipulated date.
Cohen indicated that Netanyahu is seeking a head of domestic intelligence who will be "personally loyal" to him, to the detriment of his duty and loyalty to the country and the law.
“More than once, including me and people who came after me, he (Netanyahu) asked for illegitimate and legally questionable things,” said the former head of Shabak, the agency responsible for intelligence inside Israel (while the Mossad is responsible for foreign intelligence).
The Shabak (General Security Service) is also known as “Shin Bet”
Last year, Cohen revealed that the prime minister asked him to spy on the then-heads of the Israel Defense Forces, Benny Gantz, and the Mossad, Tamir Pardo, in 2011, fearing they might leak sensitive information from a meeting.
The former Shabak leader now said he fears such requests will be repeated and that someone overly loyal to Netanyahu might not be able to refuse to follow illegitimate instructions.
He also noted that Ronen Bar's dismissal could affect Shabak's investigation into the "Qatargate" scandal, the alleged payments from Qatar to former Netanyahu advisers to create a pro-Gulf government campaign.
Years earlier, the Shabak also investigated how Qatar financed the Islamic terrorist group Hamas for years, without the Israeli government preventing it.
According to his office, Netanyahu said he decided to remove Bar because he considers him “soft” in the position and “not the right person to rehabilitate the organization (Shabak).”
The dismissal comes amid the ongoing investigation into accountability for the Islamic terrorist group Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which sparked the war in the Gaza Strip.
Earlier this month, the Shabak published the results of its investigation into what happened and, while acknowledging its own shortcomings, blamed the government for ignoring its warnings and taking an overly defensive approach to Gaza.
In recent months, the three most prominent figures in Israel's security establishment—former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, former IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, and former military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari—have also been removed from their posts or forced to resign due to apparent disagreements with the government.
Agencies contributed to this Aurora article