Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara of attempting to usurp the government's discretion, which he called a dangerous betrayal of its explicit authority, in a letter sent on Monday.
"Your insinuations regarding suspicions of "illegality and conflict of interest" represent a complete reversal of justice," Netanyahu wrote.
He further stated, "Contrary to your claims, the intent to terminate the Shin Bet chief's term did not arise in the context of the investigation. In fact, the "investigation" was initiated only after the possibility of terminating his term was raised and reported in the media."
Blocked from firing Shin Bet chief
On Sunday night, Baharav-Miara sent a letter to Netanyahu blocking him from firing Shin Bet Chief Ronen Bar until the agency's probe of Qatargate is complete.
While Netanyahu has sole authority over appointing the head of the Shin Bet, Baharav-Miara emphasized that the position is apolitical and should not be subject to political loyalty, unlike other appointments within the Prime Minister’s Office.
Last week, Netanyahu urged Bar to resign from his position, but Bar refused.
Bar’s position has been that he will only resign earlier than his five-year term’s expiration date if and when all of the remaining Israeli hostages held by Hamas are returned, and the state commission of inquiry into Netanyahu’s decisions relating to the October 7 massacre has started.
According to Bar, Netanyahu has multiple times endangered the lives of Israeli hostages by continuing the war in an effort to maintain his coalition, taking into consideration Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich’s threat to quit the government if the war ends.
Furthermore, Bar has said the Shin Bet took responsibility for its numerous and vast October 7 massacre failures to block Hamas’s invasion but that Netanyahu has prevented any attempt to probe his decisions and responsibility for the colossal failure.
Yonah Jeremy Bob contributed to this report.