Shin Bet director Ronen Bar on Sunday hit back at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, after Netanyahu accused the intelligence service of pursuing a "witch hunt" against him, and for their investigation of Eli Feldstein, a former spokesman working for the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), accused of leaking sensitive material to a foreign newspaper.
Without mentioning the prime minister directly, Bar's first public statements on the case and the surrounding controversy answered several claims and accusations made by Netanyahu in a recent 9-minute video.
Bar's comments came 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 out of hand 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 charged.
In response to the rabbis' suggestion that the investigation was meant to publicly place the blame for the Oct. 7 catastrophe and following failures on the prime minister while deflecting blame from the 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, Feldstein was indicted with the charge of transferring classified information while intending to harm state security, a highly controversial charge that can result in a life sentence. He was also charged with illicit possession of classified information and the obstruction of justice.
An as-of-yet 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.
This Sunday, Likud Knesset members Hanoch Milwidsky and Amit Halevi promoted a law bill that would make legal 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 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."
Embattled Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, who several coalition leaders are seeking to replace, once again came out against a law being advanced 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."
Republished with permission from All Israel News