Protest leaders hail “civilian victory” but Likud slams court intervention, calling it an outrageous interferences in a legitimate decision of Israel’s elected government.

In a dramatic escalation of tensions between Israel’s judiciary and government, the High Court of Justice on Thursday issued a temporary injunction halting the dismissal of Shin Bet Director Ronen Bar, pending a hearing on legal petitions challenging the move.

The court said it would hear the cases by April 8, putting the brakes on the government’s decision to remove Bar from his post by April 10.

The overnight vote by the government to oust Bar — one of the highest-profile figures in Israel’s security establishment — has triggered fierce political and public reactions. Critics called it a dangerous politicization of national security, while government allies insist the move is fully within the executive’s authority.

Among the most vocal defenders of Bar was Yair Golan, chair of the left-wing Democrats party and a former IDF general, who welcomed the court’s intervention as “an important achievement.”

“The mobilization of the masses is having an impact — the unfaltering civilian struggle is succeeding,” Golan said in a statement Thursday morning.
“Bar demonstrated courage when he stood up to a bad and dangerous government,” he added, vowing that protestors will “continue the campaign for Israeli democracy.”
Channeling wartime rhetoric often used by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Golan concluded, “We will fight, and we will win.”

Bar, who has headed the internal security agency since 2021, is widely viewed as a professional rather than political appointee. His leadership during the October 7 Hamas onslaught and subsequent operations reportedly placed him at odds with key figures in the coalition. While no formal reason for his dismissal has been published, sources suggest Bar’s internal dissent and efforts to shield the agency from political influence may have sealed his fate.

Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi, a member of Netanyahu’s Likud party, sharply condemned the court’s injunction.

“Ronen Bar will end his tenure on April 10 or earlier, with the appointment of a permanent head of the Shin Bet,” Karhi declared in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
“You have no legal authority to interfere in this. This is the government’s authority. Your order is void.”

Karhi’s defiance reflects a broader campaign by the ruling coalition to curb judicial oversight, a flashpoint that has reignited Israel’s democracy protests and rekindled public scrutiny of government attempts to consolidate power.

Bar, who has not spoken publicly since the vote, was seen attending a memorial at Latrun last year marking the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War — a reminder to many of the stakes involved when military leadership collides with political maneuvering.

The High Court’s decision to freeze his dismissal — at least temporarily — suggests the justices see potential merit in the petitions brought forward, though legal analysts caution that the court may ultimately defer to the executive on matters of senior security appointments.

Still, for anti-government protestors, Thursday’s ruling was a rare and symbolic win.

“It’s a crack in the wall,” said a retired officer marching near the Kirya in Tel Aviv. “The government tried to fire a man of integrity. The court just told them: not so fast.”

The government has until early April to submit its arguments. Until then, Bar remains in his post, and the battle over Israel’s democratic institutions — and who controls its levers of power — rages on.