Jason Burke
The Guardian, Mar. 21, 2025
“He has stayed on so long, associates and supporters say, to work towards the release of hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza and to protect the Shin Bet from political manoeuvres.”
Ronen Bar, the head of Israel’s powerful internal security service, the Shin Bet, may seem an unlikely rebel.
A former special forces soldier who holds degrees from Tel Aviv and Harvard universities, Bar has devoted three decades of his working life to the service of the state. His frame is lean, greying hair close shaved, features gaunt, manner reserved and speech moderate.
But Bar has found himself on the frontline of Israel’s bitter internal political, social and cultural conflicts. On Thursday night, the government of Benjamin Netanyahu voted to dismiss the 59-year-old from his post – the first Shin Bet chief ever to be fired. His sacking prompted massive protests across Israel and revived accusations that Netanyahu wants to dismantle Israel’s democracy.
Yossi Melman, a veteran Israeli security reporter, said: “He never intended to be a hero to the opposition or the protest movement. He is a typical product of Israel’s security establishment. He is not a liberal or a softie but he is honest and brought up in the tradition that the state is important but without the law the state is nothing.”
Bar served his military service in the Sayeret Matkal, Israel’s elite special forces. He then opened and ran a bar in Tel Aviv, where he met his wife. After obtaining degrees in political science and philosophy from Tel Aviv University and a master’s degree in public administration from Harvard, he joined the Shin Bet and rose steadily through the ranks of its operations division, which manages logistics and support for the frontline teams handling everything from agents to assassinations in the occupied West Bank or elsewhere. …SOURCE