Religious Zionist Party Chairman Minister Bezalel Smotrich attacked the conduct of ISA Director Ronen Bar and claimed that his dismissal is "a necessary and required move."
"It would be fit if Ronen Bar would have taken true accountability and resigned out of his own initiative over a year ago. Better late than never," Smotrich said in a statement in the Knesset.
According to him, "Ronen Bar's response to the decision, together with the briefings and sticking to his seat, give a testimony worthy of a thousand witnesses that he is not fit for this job, and that's not connected to the intelligence and operational failures that he's responsible for, the worst failure that led to the largest disaster since the foundation of the State of Israel."
Smotrich called out Bar's conduct and claimed that it "harms all the many ISA staff who work for Israel's security and resembles the conduct of the heads of the secret organizations in 3rd-world anti-democratic regimes."
The Minister also mentioned Attorney General Gali-Baharav Miara's attempts to prevent Bar's dismissal: "Any violent and forceful attempt by legal officials to deprive it of the authority granted to it by law to dismiss or appoint the head of the ISA is illegitimate, illegal, and undemocratic, and it must not be obeyed."
Smotrich urged the Prime Minister "not to give into the threats and violence, not by legal officials and not by irresponsible opposition and protest figures who forgot how to be democratic," and to "bring the motion to replace the ISA Director before the government without delay."
Regarding the war in Gaza, Smotrich stated: "Currently and amid Hamas's refusal to return the hostages, we are preparing to return to war in Gaza with a large, deadly, and multi-division attack that will lead to the destruction of Hamas and conquering of the Gaza Strip."
Smotrich also discussed the state budget and aid to reservists and noted that "we are managing to stabilize Israel's economy and put it on the track of growth and prosperity."