Israel anti-government protests flare after dismissal of top security agency chief

Record ID: 1985647

  • Title: Israel anti-government protests flare after dismissal of top security agency chief
  • Date: 22nd March 2025
  • Summary: TEL AVIV, ISRAEL (MARCH 22, 2025) (REUTERS) (NIGHT SHOTS) VARIOUS OF ANTI-GOVERNMENT PROTESTERS MARCHING ON THE WAY TO JOIN WITH HOSTAGES PROTEST AT TEL AVIV'S BEGIN GATE TEL AVIV, ISRAEL (MARCH 22, 2025) (REUTERS) ANTI-GOVERNMENT PROTESTERS GATHERING AT HABIMA SQUARE PROTESTERS GATHERING, SIGN ON BUILDING READING (English): "BRING THEM HOME" (SOUNDBITE) (English) 63-YEAR-
  • Embargoed:
  • Keywords: Benjamin Netanyahu Israel Ronen Bar Shin Bet Tel Aviv anti-government dismissal domestic intelligence protest
  • Location: TEL AVIV, ISRAEL
  • City: TEL AVIV, ISRAEL
  • Country: Israel
  • Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Middle East,Civil Unrest
  • Reuters ID: LVA003092822032025RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:Thousands of Israelis demonstrated in Tel Aviv on Saturday (March 22) against the decision by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to dismiss the head of the Shin Bet domestic intelligence service and resume fighting in Gaza.
    Netanyahu said this week he had lost confidence in Ronen Bar, who has led Shin Bet since 2021, and intended to fire him effective April 10, prompting three days of protests.
    Israel's Supreme Court issued an injunction on Friday (March 21) temporarily freezing the dismissal.
    In Tel Aviv's Habima Square, protesters waved blue and white Israeli flags and called for a deal that would see the release of the remaining Israeli hostages being held in Gaza.
    "The most dangerous enemy of Israel is Benjamin Netanyahu," protester Moshe Haaharony, 63, told Reuters. "Benjamin Netanyahu, for 20 years, doesn't care about the country, doesn't care about the citizens."
    Netanyahu has dismissed accusations the decision was politically motivated, but his critics have accused him of undermining the institutions underpinning Israel's democracy by seeking Bar's removal.
    Since the start of the war, there have also been regular protests by families and supporters of hostages seized by Hamas during the October 7 attack that have sometimes echoed the criticisms of the government.
    With the resumption of Israel's campaign in Gaza, the fate of 59 hostages, as many as 24 of whom are still believed to be alive, remains unclear and protesters said a return to war could see them either killed by their captors or accidentally by Israeli bombardments.
    (Production: Adrian Portugal, Ilan Rosenberg, Lion Schellerer)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2025. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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