Alex Lederman

The stakes surrounding Bar's firing are high. The immediate concern is if the government boycotts the court or the Shin Bet, delegitimizing state bodies. The longer-term concern is if the government succeeds in subjugating these institutions, eliminating checks and balances altogether.

The Shin Bet is secretive and powerful. It has extensive surveillance capabilities and a mandate to carry out arrests. It's not hard to imagine how such an institution could be weaponized if fully subordinate to the whims of those in power.

The far right also resents the Shin Bet for its focus on Jewish terrorism, including West Bank settler violence. Calls from settler leaders to shutter the Shin Bet's Jewish department have escalated. Bar has faced incitement from the right for his condemnations of settler terrorism.

The Shin Bet probe into Kahanism in the police can easily be spun by Netanyahu and his allies as an attempt by the Shin Bet to carry out a deep-state coup by delegitimizing another agency—an additional pretext for demanding Bar's ouster and possible further purges of the Shin Bet's leadership.

The far right has a particular interest in politicizing the Shin Bet. Natl Sec Minister Ben Gvir is already doing so with the police: intervening in operations, appointing cronies, cracking down on protesters. The Shin Bet reportedly probed an infiltration of far-right extremists into the force.

Recent revelations suggest that Bibi has long sought to leverage the Shin Bet for his personal benefit. Frmr chief Yoram Cohen claimed Bibi asked him to revoke the security clearance of Naftali Bennett. Bar says that Bibi asked him to fabricate a security rationale to delay his criminal trial.

It's also not incidental that this firestorm is over who runs the Shin Bet. Politicizing the domestic intelligence agency goes hand in hand with the government's goal of politicizing the judiciary.

Both are independent institutions that this government sees as threats to its agenda.

Govt decisions, even if procedurally correct, must be rooted in public interest, not politicians' personal interest.

This govt rejects this notion. They were elected, and thus get to rule however they want, including by changing the rules of the game. This is the rationale of the judicial overhaul.

The other layer is that the decision is tainted by conflict of interest: that Bar's firing was motivated by Netanyahu's desire to thwart ongoing investigations into the Prime Minister’s Office and political disagreements, not substantive grievances with Bar as a professional.

On the other side, there are several layers to why the petitioners, the AG, and the now High Court take issue with Bar being firing.

One is procedural: The govt bypassed the Senior Appointments Committee, didn't give evidence of misconduct, and didn't give Bar a chance to address criticism.

The government, which unanimously voted to fire Bar on March 21, argued that it had lost trust in his leadership given the Shin Bet's October 7 failures. Since it theoretically has the authority to fire the head of the Shin Bet, the government is rejecting the court's intervention.

Israel's High Court has temporarily blocked Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar's firing. The Netanyahu government may defy the court by boycotting Bar—one of Israel's most prominent security officials.

The govt's bid to subvert institutions doesn't stop with the court. It's just as much about the Shin Bet.

The AI-fueled fever dream of 'Trump Gaza' is gaudy and abhorrent. But it identifies a real problem The president blasted out an AI video advertising "Trump Gaza." And while the vision is gaudy and inhumane, it also speaks to hidden truths.

Trump's AI Gaza promo is a shocking thing for a president to post, and the vision it depicts flies in the face of liberal-democratic norms. But we must take into account the understandable reasons why many will find it compelling.

My latest in @forward.bsky.social: forward.com/opinion/6998...

Katz reprimands IDF intel chief for warning discourse on Trump’s Gaza plan could prompt violence Maj. Gen. Shlomi Binder clarifies to defense minister he didn't speak out against plan, but warned of potential West Bank violence, especially during Ramadan, as his role requires

During a military assessment, head of IDF Military Intelligence (Aman) warned of possible security risks from Trump's Gaza plan. Defense Minister Katz ordered that he be reprimanded.

Israeli security suffers when politics take precedence over professionalism. www.timesofisrael.com/katz-orders-...

Trump's plans for Gaza could undermine the ceasefire. The hostages will pay the tragic price President Trump's proposal for a U.S. takeover in Gaza, and mass relocation of Palestinians, could endanger Israel's ceasefire with Hamas.

Trump's dramatic vision for Gaza more than delivered on Netanyahu's hope of undermining the Gaza ceasefire negotiations. Painfully, those talks are still the only real way to save the living hostages still held by Hamas.

My latest for @forward.bsky.social:
forward.com/opinion/6947...

Thanks Ilan!

Trump's plans for Gaza could undermine the ceasefire. The hostages will pay the tragic price President Trump's proposal for a U.S. takeover in Gaza, and mass relocation of Palestinians, could endanger Israel's ceasefire with Hamas.

Very good piece by @alexlederman.bsky.social . The real immediate danger of Trump’s ludicrous Gaza proposal is not that it will ever be implemented (it won’t). It’s that it undermines the ceasefire and hostage deal. forward.com/opinion/6947...

The IDF needs to fully confront settler and Palestinian terrorism alike. As long as Israel controls the West Bank, it must address the security and infrastructure needs of both populations, strengthen the PA and its security forces, and advance separation over annexation.

Transportational solutions like bypass roads are a band-aid that doesn't change the underlying issue of two populations hostile to each other enmeshed in the same area. Israeli security would be better served by discouraging settlement in such areas to reduce the IDF's burden.

Rather than reduce friction and maintain order, the far-right's goal is to pour fuel on the fire by abetting settler attacks and rhetorically threatening the Palestinians. Amid the ongoing multi-front war, a deteriorating West Bank would be detrimental for all.

The West Bank is awash with illegal and increasingly sophisticated weapons, brought in by criminal and Iran-backed groups. It remains a powder keg waiting to erupt, with violence threatening to spread into Israel-proper with terror infiltrations across the porous Green Line.

But National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir has called for ending security cooperation with the PA entirely and cracking down on the Palestinian population with more checkpoints and military operations—repeating his refrain that settlers' lives trump Palestinians' freedom of movement.

Israel has a huge stake in the outcome: having the PA fight terrorism in the West Bank offsets the cost of security for Israel and is a rare and successful example of Israeli-Palestinian cooperation against a shared enemy.

Meanwhile in the Jenin refugee camp, a hotbed of militancy with minimal PA presence, the PA Security Forces continue a multi-week operation against militias. This is a big test of the PA's ability to control its own territory, with an eye to the possibility of returning to Gaza.

Settlers riot in West Bank village for 3rd time in days after terror shooting Farm building set on fire near Ramallah, 'revenge' scrawled in Hebrew on wall; no arrests made in nighttime revenge raids amid videos of burning cars, property

Like Huwara, the terror attack in Funduq was met with more terror. Hundreds of settlers rampaged through Funduq and other nearby communities, destroying cars and other property and threatening residents. The IDF reportedly failed to intervene. www.timesofisrael.com/settlers-rio...

Then there's Finance Minister Smotrich's solution: destroying the Palestinian communities entirely. After a terror attack and settler rampage in Huwara in 2023, Smotrich called on Israel to "erase" it. This week, he said Funduq (and Jenin and Nablus) should "look like Jabalia."

This is a significant investment in infrastructure that serves relatively few Israelis while entrenching a civilian presence in an area that is >90% Palestinian. Palestinian infrastructure needs are neglected by the Civil Administration, which rarely approves construction.

Opening of the Huwara Bypass Road – Enhancing Settlements in the Southern Nablus Region - Peace Now The first section of the Huwara Bypass Road opened for vehicular traffic on Sunday, November 12, 2023. This road aims to facilitate travel from the Tapuach/Za’tara junction to four settlements located...

One fix is constructing a bypass road for settlers. This is what was done in Huwara, a regular flashpoint of Palestinian and settler terrorism. The new bypass road for four nearby settlements, which opened in Nov 2023, cost 350 million shekels. peacenow.org.il/en/opening-o...

No civilians should have to live in fear of terror. Deadly attacks by Palestinians are all-too common in the West Bank, and the threat has only risen since October 7. Protecting a settler minority deep in the majority-Palestinian West Bank is a major burden for the IDF.

Map by UN OCHA (May 2023)

Three Israelis (including two elderly women) were killed and eight others wounded in a shooting terror attack in Funduq. This Palestinian village straddles the road to the settlement of Kedumim, used by Israelis and Palestinians alike. West Bank terror attacks often occur on such roads.