Tensions between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) Director Ronen Bar have become increasingly hostile in recent days, exposing divisions between the government and the security establishment over accountability for significant intelligence and operational failures leading up to the October 7 Hamas attacks in 2023, which resulted in over 1,200 deaths and the kidnapping of 251 hostages. 

While tensions started even before the October 7 Gaza War, in the past year, following the failure to come to a hostage-ceasefire agreement several times, Bar himself has been more openly critical of Netanyahu. In return, Netanyahu began to be more critical of Bar, although initially refraining from mentioning him by name. 

In a recent cabinet meeting over the issue of appointing a state commission of inquiry, Netanyahu refused to allow Bar into the meeting, and would not allow a written statement from Bar advocating for a state commission, which was to be read to the cabinet. When asked by the attorney general why he wouldn’t allow Bar’s opinion to be shared, Netanyahu reportedly responded, saying, “He is a bureaucrat. What has he got to do with the decision to set up an inquiry commission?” 

In February, Netanyahu also removed Bar from the hostage negotiations team, replacing him with Strategic Affairs Advisor Ron Dermer, who he also appointed head of the team. Shortly after the replacement, a source in Netanyahu’s office claimed that the anonymous leaks of details regarding the negotiations by “a security official” had ceased. 

“Now, you don’t have any leaks – everything was leaking before. It’s like [the previous team] were on a different side or something,” the source claimed.