Israel’s Supreme Court of Justice ruled in a verdict published on Wednesday evening that the government’s decision to terminate the tenure of Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar was made in an “improper and unlawful” process. In addition, the decision stated that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu had a conflict of interest given the investigations into his aides as part of the Qatargate affair, and that the dismissal decision was made without a factual basis and without a proper hearing. The decision was reached despite the fact that the distrust between Bar and Netanyahu since the October 7 massacre was public knowledge, well before the launch of the Qatargate investigation. The decision has no practical bearing since Bar already announced his intention to end his term on June 15. The decision was reached by a majority of two – liberal justices President Yitzchak Amit and Daphne Barak-Erez, with Justice Noam Sohlberg dissenting. Justice Noam Sohlberg stated in a minority opinion that there is an inherent tension between the Shin Bet’s subordination to the government’s authority and its obligation to implement its policies, and the Shin Bet’s obligation to act only “in a stately manner.” Sohlberg wrote that it was not appropriate to rule on the matter: “It is not necessary and it is not appropriate to decide on the issue nor to elaborate on it –  in general, according to the rules of public law – and all the more so in the current procedure, which touched on deep disagreements in Israeli society.” (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)