The fight over Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar's removal

Gone quiet · last story Mar 31, 2025

What this arc covers

Benjamin Netanyahu's 2025 move to remove Ronen Bar as head of Israel's Shin Bet domestic security service, the legal challenge to that move, and his choice of a proposed successor while the dispute was before the court. The October 7 attack is part of this arc only where responsibility for it bears directly on Bar's removal. The broader inquiry into the attack and other wartime leadership changes are separate matters.

Earliest story we hold Mar 16, 2025 · 2 stories · 9 independent sources (counted once each) · 15 days

Part ofBenjamin NetanyahuIsrael

Part of The Israel-Hamas war

  1. Israel's wartime unity government and Gantz's break with NetanyahuOct 11, 2023 – Jun 17, 2024
  2. The ICC warrants and the genocide accusationsOct 15, 2023 – Jun 23, 2026
  3. The push to recognize a Palestinian stateDec 12, 2023 – Sep 16, 2026
  4. Trump's plan to take over Gaza and move Palestinians outJan 26 – Sep 18, 2025
  5. The Trump administration's bid to deport student activistsMar 9, 2025 – Jul 21, 2026
  6. The fight over Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar's removalThis arcMar 16 – Mar 31, 2025
  7. The activist boats that tried to break Gaza's blockadeMay 2, 2025 – May 20, 2026
  8. Trump's peace plan, the 2025 cease-fire and what followedSep 25, 2025 – Sep 27, 2026
Show remaining 8 arcs
  1. The warnings, failures and inquiries around the October 7 attackOct 7, 2023 – Sep 8, 2026
  2. Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on IsraelOct 7, 2023 – May 12, 2026
  3. Israel's offensives in Gaza and the civilian tollOct 7, 2023 – Sep 16, 2025
  4. The hostages and the cease-fire talks, 2023-2025Oct 7, 2023 – Oct 5, 2025
  5. US backing for Israel and the pressure over its conductOct 7, 2023 – Sep 26, 2025
  6. The protests in the US over the warOct 8, 2023 – Mar 31, 2024
  7. Hunger, famine and the fight over aid to GazaOct 9, 2023 – Jul 23, 2026
  8. The campus protests and the fight over antisemitismOct 9, 2023 – Sep 21, 2026

Where it standsnewest first · each bar runs left to right by leaning

Mar 312025Israel's Netanyahu picks new security chief, defying legal challenge8 articles · 8 independent sources
0 left, 1 center, 2 right
Mar 16– 172025Netanyahu moves to fire the head of Israel’s internal security service24 articles · 21 independent sources
1 left, 4 center, 2 right

Who covered it, over timeindependent sources per week, by side

Mar 10Mar 17Mar 24Mar 31

LeftCenterRight

Point at or tap a week to see its count by side.

Every week as a table
Week ofLeftCenterRightArticles
Mar 10, 20251216
Mar 17, 202513214
Mar 31, 20250126

Stories before June 28, 2026 come from archived pages, so who covered them is limited to the outlets we recovered for that period.

11% left · 56% center · 33% right of 9 independent sources among the outlets we track, across 2 stories.

Every storyoldest first

  1. March 2025

    Mar 16– 17Netanyahu moves to fire the head of Israel’s internal security service24 articles · 21 independent sources
    1 left, 4 center, 2 right
  2. Mar 31Israel's Netanyahu picks new security chief, defying legal challenge8 articles · 8 independent sources
    0 left, 1 center, 2 right