Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu insisted on Friday "the government of Israel will decide" who heads the domestic security agency, after the Supreme Court froze its bid to oust the incumbent, Ronen Bar.
"The State of Israel is a state of law, and according to the law, the government of Israel decides who will be the head of the Shin Bet," Netanyahu said on X without mentioning the court's decision.
Israel's Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara said earlier Friday that the prime minister was not allowed to appoint a new internal security agency chief after the government decided to sack Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar.
"According to the decision of the Supreme Court, it is prohibited to take any action that harms the position of the head of the Shin Bet, Ronen Bar," she said in a message to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu published by a spokesperson. "It is prohibited to appoint a new head of Shin Bet, and interviews for the position should not be held."
The statement came after Israel's High Court of Justice earlier announced it was freezing the dismissal of Bar, just hours after Netanyahu’s cabinet voted unanimously to sack him.
The court said the order will remain in place until it can hear petitions that have been filed against his dismissal by rights groups and the country's opposition.
"It is hereby ordered that a provisional measure be taken to stay the effect of the decision subject to the appeals until another decision is made," the court said in a document obtained by AFP.
The court said it would hear the appeals no later than April 8.
Netanyahu's government voted overnight to remove Bar from his position by April 10 at the latest, in what critics described as a "personal vendetta" by the Israeli prime minister.
Read moreA game of political survival: Netanyahu’s personal vendetta against Shin Bet chief
Israel’s attorney general earlier ruled that the cabinet had no legal basis to dismiss Bar, who is meant to end his tenure only next year.
October 7, 'Qatargate' probes
The Shin Bet chief's expected dismissal provoked the anger of the opposition and led to huge demonstrations accusing Netanyahu of threatening democracy.
Several thousand people braved bad weather late Thursday to demonstrate outside Netanyahu's private residence in Jerusalem and then the Israeli parliament, where ministers were meeting.
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In a letter made public on Thursday, Bar said Netanyahu's arguments were "general, unsubstantiated accusations that seem to hide the motivations behind the decision to terminate (his) duties".
Bar argued that the real motives were based on "personal interest" and intended to "prevent investigations into the events leading up to [Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attacks] and other serious matters" being looked at by the Shin Bet.
He referred to the "complex, wide-ranging and highly sensitive investigation" involving people close to Netanyahu who allegedly received money from Qatar, a case dubbed "Qatargate" by the media.
A first Shin Bet report into the October 7 attacks that triggered the war in Gaza acknowledged failures by the security agency. But it also said policies by Netanyahu’s government created the conditions for the attack.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP and AP)