Avigdor Liberman: Ronen Bar's failure is Benjamin Netanyahu's failure

Yisrael Beytenu party leader and prospective Prime Minister Avigdor Liberman harshly criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today (Monday) for trying to dodge his own responsibility for October 7 by firing every other senior official in charge of Israeli security at the time.

In his statement, Liberman said that "there is no doubt that the Shin Bet failed, and the head of the Shin Bet, Ronen Bar, failed on October 7. But the greatest failure is that of the Prime Minister of October 7, since the failure of the Shin Bet is first and foremost the failure of the Prime Minister himself.

Liberman reminded his audience that "according to the law, the Prime Minister appoints the head of the Shin Bet, outlines policy for him, and supervises him directly in his role as Chairman of the Ministerial Committee for Shin Bet affairs. Netanyahu, who is in his sixth term compared to Bar's first term, should have been the one examining intelligence, guiding and supervising the Shin Bet. Therefore, the attempt to shift responsibility for the October 7 disaster solely onto the Shin Bet is a false attempt.

In Liberman's view, "on October 8, everyone should have resigned – the Prime Minister, the Defense Minister, the head of the National Security Council, the head of the Shin Bet, and the Chief of Staff. But instead of taking responsibility, Netanyahu is busy trying to divert the public agenda from the burning issues: the draft-dodging law, coalition funds, and the need to establish a state commission of inquiry.

He also added the now widespread accusation that "the dismissal of Ronen Bar at the current timing is not coincidental, and it is also related to the investigation being conducted against employees of the Prime Minister's Office. While Netanyahu diverts public attention, massive budgets of 5.4 billion shekels are being channeled to coalition funds, while there is not enough budget for the rehabilitation of freed captives. It is unacceptable that in the State of Israel, donations must be raised to rehabilitate Yarden Bibas, while the coalition funnels billions to associates at the public's expense.

He ended by saying that: "the first person who should resign is the Prime Minister – and only after him all the heads of the security forces."