Justice Minister Levin says government will boycott Shin Bet chief if Supreme Court overrules dismissal

In an interview on the right-wing Channel 14 program "The Patriots" on Saturday, Justice Minister Yariv Levin said the government would refuse to work with Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar if the Supreme Court invalidates the government's decision to fire him.

Levin’s comments came amid a discussion about changes to the judiciary, which the coalition government has attempted to achieve through its proposed judicial reforms. 

Justice Minister Levin was asked if the United States would be willing to help Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his fight against the “deep state," after Netanyahu compared his situation to that of U.S. President Donald Trump. Levin responded, “I have to say something – we depend on ourselves. I’m not suggesting we rely on others.” 

Levin said the current struggle over the judicial reforms has exposed hypocrisy within the judiciary. 

“They should stop threatening us,” Levin commented. “For years, they said the Supreme Court is the rule of law. First of all, it’s the opposite. Look at Justice Procaccia – suddenly she’s calling to break the law because the laws we pass don’t suit her anymore.” 

Minister Levin referred to the comments made by former Supreme Court Justice Ayala Procaccia, who participated in a conference hosted by Haaretz newspaper regarding the judicial reforms.

"Maybe we should even consider civil disobedience, with all the costs that its perpetrators will have to pay, including breaking laws, with one iron rule: non-violence,” he said.

Levin said the government should stand firm, saying it could have completed the judicial reforms in 2023. 

“I should have finished this whole process in July 2023, but unfortunately, the legislation was stopped in March 2023 because there was no stamina,” he stated. 

When asked about the government’s response if the Supreme Court blocks the dismissal of Shin Bet Director Ronen Bar, Levin said the government must take a strong stance.

“If we are determined, if we stand firm, if we tell the Court, with all due respect, that it cannot force a Shin Bet chief on the prime minister that he can’t work with – there’s no such thing. It doesn’t exist in any country in the world. And say we’ll stand against this with great strength.”

Levin suggested the government should adopt the same approach with Bar as it did with Chief Justice Yitzhak Amit, whom it has withheld support from since his appointment."

“I think we need to do exactly what we did with Justice Amit: not cooperate with him, not work with him.” 

The justice minister said, if faced with such opposition, “I think this won’t even last a week, and you’ll see the Shin Bet chief get up and leave on his own. Because that’s how it should be.” 

In his appearance on “The Patriots,” Levin stated that Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara would also be dismissed. 

“The attorney general will eventually go home, but the process is difficult,” he said. 

On Friday, Bar submitted a letter to the High Court of Justice, claiming that Netanyahu decided to fire him after he refused to inform judges in Netanyahu’s corruption trial that the prime minister could not testify regularly due to security reasons. 

“Netanyahu demanded from me a security opinion that the security situation does not allow him to testify continuously in the trial. That gave the signal to the claim of lack of trust,” Bar wrote. 

Bar also said the head of the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) is a position that requires “professional independence.” 

“The head of the Shin Bet is not the trusted servant of the prime minister or any other diplomatic or political figure,” Bar wrote. 

Netanyahu’s Likud party attacked Bar in a statement, saying that its plans to fire him had already begun late last year.

“Plans to dismiss the Shin Bet chief were made public as early as November 2024, and on Feb. 3, 2025, it was decided to remove him from the negotiation team – the first step toward ending his term,” the statement said.

The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) also responded to Bar’s claim in the letter, stating that their discussion focused solely on the location of the testimony, not on whether it should take place.

“The prime minister spoke with the head of the Shin Bet about ways to allow him to testify in court in light of the missile threats against Israel and the prime minister in particular. The discussion that took place on the subject was about the location of the testimony and not about its existence,” the PMO stated.