Israel PM, security agency fight it out in public

Israel's premier and the head of internal security are engaged in a very public spat over reforms to the agency, accused of failing to prevent the October 7, 2023 attack.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accused Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar of resorting to "blackmail" and "threats" over the proposed reforms.

On Thursday, Bar's predecessor Nadav Argaman added oil to the fire in an interview he gave to Israel's privately-owned Channel 12 television.

"I keep everything private that occurred one-on-one between me and the prime minister. It is quite clear that I have a great deal of knowledge which I could put to use, but I do not," Argaman said.

"If I conclude that the prime minister has decided to act in contravention of the law, then I will have no choice -- I will reveal everything I know... in order to preserve the importance of relations between the Shin Bet chief and the premier."

The former security chief added: "I'm very troubled by the fact that the prime minister is deliberately damaging Israeli society and causing friction within it in order to rule."

Netanyahu responded on social media platform X, accusing Argaman of engaging in "live, on-air extortion against a sitting prime minister" and of making "Mafia-style criminal threats".

He also accused Bar of being behind what he called "part of an ongoing campaign of threats and media leaks" aimed at preventing him "from making the necessary decisions to restore the Shin Bet after its devastating failure on October 7."

The domestic security agency is formally known as the Internal Security Agency.

On March 4, it acknowledged its failure in preventing Hamas's 2023 attack, saying that if it had acted differently the deadliest day in Israel's history could have been averted.

In a rare move, the agency has now issued a statement about the political controversy, denouncing "a serious accusation against the head of a state agency in Israel" and calling it "baseless".