Politicians across the spectrum reacted to the security affair revealed on Tuesday, which saw a Shin Bet official arrested on suspicion of leaking classified information to a government minister and two journalists.
The minister in question, Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Minister Amichai Chikli, said that the Shin Bet official was a “hero of Israel, a whistleblower who was willing to take risks against a pair of officials [Shin Bet head Ronen Bar and Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara] who entered a dangerously disoriented state,” Chikli said in a statement following the lifting of a gag order on the affair on Tuesday morning.
According to Chikli, the official “revealed that, in the midst of war, the head of the Shin Bet was obsessively spying on a serving minister. He exposed that the parts of the Shin Bet investigation published to the public regarding the circumstances leading to the war present a false and distorted picture—Bar sought to tell us that the political echelon was responsible for Hamas’s strengthening but conveniently forgot to mention that he himself set Gaza’s rehabilitation and economic strengthening as a central goal.”
The information did not “meet the definition of classified material or pose even a hint of risk to state security—on the contrary, the failure to disclose these materials to the political echelon and the public is the real harm to state security,” Chikli continued.
“Bar has already been effectively dismissed by the government unanimously, yet instead of stepping aside, he has seized the organization with its most draconian capabilities and turned them into personal tools for revenge and political persecution—and not for the first time,” Chikli continued.
“Israel has never had a Shin Bet head as reckless, arrogant, and incompetent as him in its history.
“Bar, along with Miara, operates with a mindset of Louis XIV that ‘the state is me. ’”
“Bar does not see himself as subordinate to the government, which means he does not see himself as bound by the laws of the state that clearly and sharply define his subordination to the government and its head,” Chikli said.
Chikli pledges to fight with ‘all his might’
“On such a state of affairs, where the head of the Shin Bet chooses to ignore his subordination to the laws of the state, Judge Zamir wrote, ‘In this way, control of the service may one day fall into the hands of an unrestrained individual or group, and from there, it is but a step away from the tyranny of a police state,’” Chikli continued.
Chikli concluded by pledging to fight with “all his might” for the innocence of the official, “a loyal servant of the people of Israel and Israeli democracy, and against the political Stasi of the duo Bar and Miara.”
Ben-Gvir wrote on X/Twitter, “After they instructed to ‘gather materials’ against me to carry out a targeted elimination, after they spied on the police commissioner and the head of the prison service, after they fabricated cases against outstanding police officers whose only ‘crime’ was upholding the law and the minister’s policy, after they fabricated and continue to fabricate cases against the Prime Minister and his associates, after they lied to the court—after all this, what is it for these criminals to eavesdrop on a journalist?”
אחרי שהנחו ״לאסוף חומרים״ נגדי כדי לעשות לי סיכול ממוקד, אחרי שריגלו נגד מפכ״ל המשטרה ונגד נציב שב״ס, אחרי שתפרו תיקים לקציני משטרה מצטיינים שכל חטאם שקיימו החוק ומדיניות השר, אחרי שתפרו ותופרים תיקים לרה״מ ואנשיו, אחרי ששיקרו לביהמ״ש – אחרי כל זה, מה זה עבור הפושעים להאזין…
— איתמר בן גביר (@itamarbengvir) April 15, 2025
“How much I warned about them from the very beginning. Ronen Bar, [Attorney-General] Gali Baharav-Miara, and [PID head] Keren Bar Menachem—three deep-state figures—crossing every boundary,” Ben-Gvir wrote.
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar also addressed the matter, noting that “Israel needs public servants who are committed to clear and consistent rules of the game in order to prevent further descent down a slippery slope. The current situation requires us to focus on the enormous challenges ahead. It seems to me that the Iranians or Hamas, for their part, are focused on their objectives.”
Justice Minister Yariv Levin said that Bar “behaves as if he has a private intelligence agency that can conduct a political witch hunt.
“Selective law enforcement and the criminal use of law enforcement authorities for political and personal purposes have become a method of the left to harm its opponents and thwart any changes in state systems, particularly in the judicial system,” he added.
Levin claimed that “None of this could have happened if they didn’t know they had backing from the High Court judges.”
The Likud claimed in a statement issued later on Tuesday that “Bar, in full collaboration with the Attorney General, has turned parts of the Shin Bet into a private militia for the deep state, undermining the rule of law and the foundations of democracy.”
Lapid: ‘Government of criminals’
Opposition head Yair Lapid dubbed the government “criminals” who attack “investigators probing national security offenses,” with the aim of deflecting attention from the Qatargate affair.
“The State of Israel has only one army, one police force, one Shin Bet, and one Mossad. They have a command chain and rules that govern them,” Lapid noted.
Bar “dedicated his life to Israel’s security, and the threats against him are a dangerous incitement to violence against him and against the Shin Bet agents,” the opposition head stated.
“It doesn’t matter who the leaker is or who receives the information – the leaking of classified security information to unauthorized parties must be investigated,” National Unity leader Benny Gantz stated.
“Only a state commission of inquiry, going to elections, and changing the leadership will restore the people’s trust and allow the healing and recovery process to begin,” Gantz added.
Democrats chairman Yair Golan said on KAN Reshet Bet on Tuesday morning, “The security affair appears to be yet another political maneuver by the Israeli government or elements within it, utilizing certain journalists to spread various conspiracy theories or deep-state narratives. The real issue is political subversion within the Israeli government. I fear for the future of the democratic regime in Israel, and the greatest threat to the democratic regime in Israel is the Israeli government—not the Shin Bet.”
Golan wrote soon after on X, “The story remains and always has been ‘Qatargate.’ Netanyahu got entangled in the investigation of his connection to Qatari money and is now trying to thwart the investigation at all costs, undermining trust in the Shin Bet chief just to save himself.”
ראש השב”כ חקר הדלפה מסוכנת, זו חובתו, זה החוק.אבל נתניהו לא רוצה שב”כ שישמור על ישראל, הוא רוצה שב”כ שישמור עליו.כשנתניהו מסתבך עם קטאר הוא מנסה לפטר את החוקר. הוא יעשה הכל כדי להציל את עצמו. הוא ושופרותיו. נתניהו מסוכן לישראל.
— Yair Golan – יאיר גולן (@YairGolan1) April 15, 2025
“Shin Bet Chief Ronen Bar investigated the dangerous leak to Minister Chikli—this is his duty. It is the law. But Netanyahu doesn’t want a Shin Bet that protects Israel—he wants a Shin Bet that protects him,” Golan wrote.
“This is what corrupt governance looks like, dragging Israel into the abyss—every means is justified, every gatekeeper is an enemy. Netanyahu is dangerous for Israel. The Shin Bet chief must stay. Netanyahu is the one who must go,” Golan concluded.
Later on Tuesday, the Knesset spokesperson said the Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee would convene on Sunday to discuss selective enforcement with regard to leaks of information.
Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.
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