Shin Bet chief hits back at PM Netanyahu’s ‘witch hunt’ allegations in leaked documents scandal

Shin Bet Director Ronen Bar on Sunday hit back at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's accusations of a “witch hunt” against him. The prime minister criticized the intelligence agency for its investigation of Eli Feldstein, a former spokesperson for the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), who is accused of leaking sensitive information to a foreign newspaper.

Without mentioning the prime minister directly, Bar’s first public statements on the case and the surrounding controversy responded to several claims and accusations made by Netanyahu in a recent 9-minute video.

Bar’s comments were made in a letter he sent to a group of rabbis in the religious Zionist community, who had complained about the Shin Bet’s treatment of Feldstein and the other suspects in the case, as well as the investigation itself.

The intelligence chief, in turn, claimed that “parties with special interests, the keyboard warriors and others, choose to distort truths and even create conspiracies, shoot arrows, weaken and delegitimize the organizations that are fighting for our home.”

“The Shin Bet, out of restraint and statesmanship, chooses to keep its silence. That is why it is important that opinion leaders from all ends of the spectrum, who many good people follow, base their words well.”

Bar rejected the accusations that Feldstein and the other suspects are being treated “like terrorists.”

“These accusations border on incitement, and are probably intended to weaken the organization, in the midst of a war,” Bar argued.

In response to the rabbis’ suggestion that the investigation was meant to publicly place the blame for the Oct. 7 catastrophe and subsequent failures on the prime minister while deflecting blame from security services, Bar noted that “the security personnel and I among them were the first (and to this day almost the only) to admit their responsibility.”

“The investigation also taught that if we had not intervened here, the damage would have become even greater,” Bar said, while accusing the rabbis – and by extension Netanyahu – of attacking Shin Bet “researchers, who in their work thwarted thousands of terrorist attacks and espionage operations, and were loyal this time as well.”

Two weeks ago, Eli Feldstein was indicted on charges of transferring classified information with the intent to harm state security – a highly controversial allegation that carries the potential for a life sentence. He also faces charges of unlawful possession of classified material and obstruction of justice.

An unidentified second suspect, an IDF intelligence reservist, was also charged with transferring classified information, punishable with seven years in prison, theft from an authorized person, and obstruction of justice.

In a first hearing last Wednesday, the two suspects' detention was extended by a court until further notice, but Judge Ala Masarwa also eased some restrictions, allowing them 10 phone calls and access to personal items.

Dozens of protesters gathered outside the courthouse during the hearing, including several current and former right-wing Knesset members.

On Sunday, Likud party Knesset members Hanoch Milwidsky and Amit Halevi promoted a law bill that would legalize the unauthorized transfer of classified intelligence documents to the prime minister and the defense minister.

The bill will be brought before the Knesset for a preliminary reading on Wednesday, after the Ministerial Committee for Legislation approved it on Sunday.

Milwidsky and Halevi said the bill was important because “even during the war, critical documents regarding the enemy’s intentions did not reach the desks of decision-makers in the political leadership.”

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, under pressure as several coalition leaders push for her replacement, has once again voiced opposition to a law being promoted by the government.

She said the bill could be seen as “personal legislation, aimed at improper political interference in a criminal proceeding concerning those close to the prime minister.”