PM Netanyahu claims 'Qatargate' investigation was launched to stop firing of Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar

At the close of the Sabbath on Saturday evening, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a video claiming to have evidence that the so-called “Qatargate” investigation – launched by the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) into several aides in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) – was initiated in an attempt to prevent the dismissal of Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar. 

“Citizens of Israel,” Netanyahu began, addressing the viewers. “Tonight I have a dramatic disclosure of facts that will shake you, but before that, I want to make it clear: Ronen Bar will not remain the head of the Shin Bet, there will be no civil war and Israel will remain a democratic state. We are a nation of law, and the law in the State of Israel says simply, the government is entitled to terminate the tenure of the head of the service before the end of his term, and that is exactly what it did.”

“But in recent days, claims have been made as if the dismissal of the Shin Bet chief was done to prevent an investigation into the Qatar matter,” Netanyahu continued. “So now, you will hear from me a shocking account of the facts that should concern every single one of you, citizens of Israel. Here it is. My trust in the Shin Bet chief began to erode on October 7, when he did not wake me up, nor did he wake others. It grew and intensified until it led to Ronen’s removal from the negotiation team, and all this happened long before the decision to open the investigation into the Qatar matter.” 

“I thought the right time to end the Shin Bet chief’s tenure would be after he submitted to me the Shin Bet’s inquiries into the failures of October 7. That’s what happened with the Chief of Staff as well,” Netanyahu explained. “I instructed the Shin Bet chief to submit the inquiries to me by February 15.” 

Netanyahu went on to explain that Bar requested an extension for the submission of the agency’s internal investigation, requesting to submit it “no later than February 27.” 

On that date, Bar requested another extension of a few more days, eventually submitting the investigation results on March 4, 2025. 

The prime minister claimed that Bar launched the investigation into the Qatar affair on Feb. 27. 

Netanyahu and Bar have been in open disagreement since the launch of an investigation into leaked documents from the PMO, which began in late 2024 and involved some of the same officials in the "Qatargate" scandal.

“But on February 27, he did not submit the inquiry to me. And he requested another delay of a few days. Again, I agreed to his request. But look what happened. On that very same day, February 27, in the evening hours, in a rare coincidence that cannot be fabricated, the Attorney General announced the opening of an investigation into the Qatar matter – on February 27 at 9 p.m. The facts prove unequivocally, beyond any doubt, that the dismissal was not intended to prevent the investigation; the investigation was intended to prevent the dismissal. So tell me, who here is acting with ulterior motives?” 

However, as several Israeli media sites pointed out, Feb. 27 was the day Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara announced the investigation into the Qatar affair, not the day the investigation was launched. 

The Shin Bet has not publicly stated when the investigation into “Qatargate” was launched, but Shin Bet had already been probing the matter for at least 12 days at that point. The first media query into the Qatar investigation was made on Feb. 9, and on Feb. 10, Channel 12 News already aired a program about the investigation. 

Details regarding the “Qatargate” investigation are currently under an embargo until April 10 – the date Netanyahu has set as the deadline for removing Ronen Bar from his position. 

Shin Bet has also clarified that the investigation into Qatari money involves other offices besides the PMO.

In the letter from Bar, shared by Netanyahu, he also notes that part of the delay in the Shin Bet’s submission of the investigation was due to demands made by the prime minister. 

Bar wrote that the agency is "carrying out its probe with grave importance, in the same manner in which we treat the prime minister's requests. We have attempted to clarify with you that such an important probe cannot be completed in two weeks unless shortcuts are made, which is a condition we cannot agree to.” 

“So far, no reason has been given for the demand to significantly shorten a lengthy process,” he noted. 

After the coalition government unanimously approved Bar's dismissal last Thursday, the High Court of Justice issued a temporary injunction pending a hearing on petitions filed by various political groups to block the firing of Bar. 

Supreme Court Justice Gila Canfi-Steinitz said the court will conduct a hearing on the petitions by April 8, issuing a temporary halt to Bar’s dismissal.