NNA - Israel’s opposition and an NGO said on Friday they had filed a petition against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to dismiss internal security agency chief Ronen Bar.

Netanyahu’s government moved to dismiss Bar in the early hours of Friday, after previously citing an “ongoing lack of trust.”

Opposition leader Yair Lapid’s center-right party Yesh Atid separately said it has filed an appeal with Israel’s Supreme Court in the name of several opposition movements.

Lapid denounced what it called “a decision based on flagrant conflict of interest.”

The opposition’s appeal was filed in the name of Yesh Atid as well as the National Union party headed by former defense minister Benny Gantz, the Democrats party and nationalist party Yisrael Beiteinu.

Netanyahu cited a “persistent loss of professional and personal trust” for Bar’s dismissal, due to take effect by April 10.

Bar’s relationship with the Netanyahu government was strained after he blamed the executive for the security fiasco of Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

It was further strained by a Shin Bet investigation into a case dubbed in media reports as “Qatargate” over alleged covert payments to a Netanyahu aide from Qatar.--agencies

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