Israel's top court freezes dismissal of Shin Bet chief after govt voted to approve decision
Bar said the decision to fire him was "entirely tainted by ... conflicts of interest" and driven by "completely different, extraneous and fundamentally unacceptable motives"
Israel's High Court of Justice on Friday issued an injunction freezing the sacking of Shin Bet director Ronen Bar, whose ouster by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was ratified by the a government vote just hours earlier.
The court stated that Bar's dismissal was null and void “until further notice.”
Netanyahu said this week he had lost confidence in Bar, who has led the security service since 2021.
Bar did not attend the cabinet meeting but in a letter sent to ministers said the process around his firing did not comply with rules and his dismissal was predicated on baseless claims.
He said the decision to fire him was "entirely tainted by ... conflicts of interest" and driven by "completely different, extraneous and fundamentally unacceptable motives."
Late on Thursday, police fired water cannon and made numerous arrests as scuffles broke out during the protests in Tel Aviv and close to the prime minister's residence in Jerusalem, where police said dozens of protesters tried to break through security cordons.