High Court grants Israeli PM Netanyahu an extension to submit affidavit about Shin Bet chief's dismissal

Israel's High Court of Justice granted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's request on Thursday to submit his affidavit by Sunday. The affidavit, part of the High Court case regarding the dismissal of Shin Bet head Ronen Bar, was originally due today.

The request stated that earlier this week, Bar was granted an extension for his affidavit submission, and as a result, Netanyahu required additional time as well.

Another reason cited in the request is that the lawyer representing the government in the hearing, Zion Amir, is participating in the March of the Living and will return to Israel only tomorrow. It was also noted: "The head of the Shin Bet submitted both a public and a classified affidavit; the classified affidavit was delivered to Netanyahu late, after the submission deadline."

Ronen Bar had requested a postponement for his affidavit from Sunday to Monday. The judges granted a partial extension, ruling that he had sufficient time to prepare. The partial extension granted to Bar may influence the decision on whether to grant an extension to Netanyahu.

The High Court’s decision specified that the prime minister must submit his own personal affidavit. One of the options considered by Netanyahu's team is to argue that the wording is not binding, and that it would be acceptable to submit an affidavit on his behalf by another party.

However, the main concern is that failing to submit a personal affidavit could signal that Netanyahu has something to hide and lacks factual backing for his claims, in contrast to Bar’s affidavit. There is also concern that this could be perceived as showing contempt for the court’s decision, which has yet to rule on the case.

Legally, submitting an affidavit is equivalent to providing binding testimony in court, and in exceptional cases can also open the door to cross-examination.

This past Monday, Ronen Bar submitted a sharply critical affidavit to the High Court against the government and Netanyahu. In it, he claimed that the prime minister made "illegal requests" at the end of work meetings, after asking that recording devices be turned off.

Bar further stated that some of Netanyahu's requests concerned Shin Bet activities against anti-government protestors. "It was made clear to me that in the event of a constitutional crisis, I must obey the prime minister and not the High Court," he claimed.