Former Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar has filed a NIS 3 million defamation lawsuit against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, alleging that the Prime Minister published false accusations concerning Bar's conduct in the hours preceding the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023.
The lawsuit, filed in the District Court, concerns a statement published by Netanyahu in which he attributed a series of failures to Bar, including failing to update the Prime Minister, failing to warn security forces, and failing to evacuate the Nova music festival.
The statement of claim alleges that Netanyahu deliberately sought to deflect responsibility for the October 7 failures away from himself and place it on the former Shin Bet chief.
Bar acknowledges in the lawsuit that the Shin Bet failed to provide advance warning of the Hamas attack and that he personally bears responsibility for the organization's failures. However, he argues that this does not justify the personal accusations Netanyahu published against him.
The lawsuit describes Netanyahu's publication as a "blood libel" against a man who dedicated 35 years of his life to the country's security. According to Bar, the Prime Minister knew the allegations were false but chose to publish them anyway.
One of the central claims in the lawsuit concerns Netanyahu's assertion that Bar held numerous conversations on the night of October 7 with then-IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi and then-Military Intelligence Directorate chief Aharon Haliva, during which signs of an impending attack were discussed.
Bar denies the allegation, maintaining that he did not speak with either of them that night.
The lawsuit further alleges that Shin Bet personnel took the intelligence they received seriously, passed it on to the IDF, and distributed a warning to the relevant authorities at 3:03 a.m.
According to Bar, the Prime Minister's Military Secretariat was updated on the intelligence during the night, no later than 3:55 a.m., and subsequently received a summary of the situation assessment he had conducted.
Regarding the allegation that he failed to order the evacuation of the Nova music festival, Bar maintains that he was entirely unaware of the event's existence and that the Shin Bet is not the agency responsible for approving events or ordering their evacuation.
Bar also rejects the claim that his deployment of a Tequila counterterrorism team to the border proves that he knew an attack was imminent.
According to Bar, the unit is deployed dozens of times each year in response to concerns about potential terrorist attacks, and its deployment does not, in itself, constitute evidence of advance knowledge of a large-scale assault.
Nevertheless, Bar emphasizes that none of the security agencies, including the Shin Bet, assessed that night that Hamas was about to launch an all-out attack.
A substantial portion of the lawsuit focuses on the government's conduct in the months and years preceding the Hamas attack.
Bar alleges that Netanyahu pursued a policy of "quiet at any cost" toward the Gaza Strip, intended to avoid confrontations and preserve Hamas as the governing authority in Gaza.
According to Bar, he repeatedly warned about Hamas's growing military capabilities and recommended offensive operations and targeted killings, but his recommendations were not implemented.
The lawsuit alleges that approximately two months before the October 7 attack, Bar told Netanyahu, "I am conveying to you a strategic warning of war," explaining that the security establishment would not necessarily be able to provide precise advance warning of the day and hour when war would break out.
Bar further alleges that Netanyahu was aware that money transferred from Qatar to the Gaza Strip was reaching Hamas's military wing but continued allowing the transfers despite Shin Bet opposition.
One of the most notable allegations in the lawsuit concerns a meeting held in May 2023, during which Bar recommended that Netanyahu expand Israel's policy of targeted killings to restore Israeli deterrence.
According to Bar, Netanyahu responded that he feared terrorist organizations would retaliate against the targeted killings by attempting to harm him personally.
The lawsuit further alleges that when Bar presented strategic recommendations for dealing with Hamas, Netanyahu wrote on one of the documents: "In a democracy, the Shin Bet is not responsible for shaping the State of Israel's national strategy."
In another handwritten comment, Netanyahu reportedly wrote: "This is not a directive from the head of the Shin Bet."
Bar argues that Netanyahu's publication was not an isolated incident but part of a series of statements intended to place responsibility for the disaster on him and damage his reputation.
He also links the confrontation to an affidavit he submitted during legal proceedings challenging his dismissal, in which he raised allegations concerning ties between individuals in the Prime Minister's circle and Qatar, as well as attempts to use the Shin Bet against political protests.
As part of the lawsuit, Bar is asking the court to order Netanyahu to pay him NIS 3 million, plus interest and inflation adjustments, publish a correction or retraction of the statements, and cover his legal expenses.
Bar is also requesting that relevant documents held by or under the control of the Prime Minister be disclosed during the proceedings.
Netanyahu responded to the lawsuit, saying: "Ronen Bar, who saw the warning signs on the night of October 7 and did not call me, now says he didn't have my phone number.
"Ronen, are you serious? You had my secure hotline number, and you could have called me immediately, as all the heads of the security establishment do. The Shin Bet security guards, your subordinates, who are with me 24/7, could have reached me within minutes. How many lives could we have saved if only you had called in time?" Netanyahu asked.