DAY 534 IN CAPTIVITY • DAY 6 BACK TO WAR: Crisis of Democracy, Massive Anti-Government Demonstration, Netanyahu Makes Baseless Claims Against Ronen Bar, Israel Eliminates Hamas Leader From the Air
Tel Aviv Diary, March 23, 2025
Israel is heading full speed toward a constitutional crisis of unprecedented scale. After the cabinet voted on Thursday night to fire Shin Bet Head Ronen Bar, petitions were submitted Friday morning to the Supreme Court to block the move. The Court has issued an interim ruling suspending the dismissal until it can hear arguments in the case. Both the government and the petitioners have been instructed to submit their legal arguments by April 8th, (as Bar’s termination is set to occur on April 10th).
Immediately after several government members openly declared their intention to disregard the Supreme Court’s decision, swift and widespread negative reactions erupted across Israeli society. Business associations, the Histadrut (General Federation of Labor), many municipalities, universities, military pilots, among others issued strong empathic statements. They all unequivocally warned that any government defiance of a Supreme Court order, would represent a significant breach and cross a bright red line — one that would trigger a nationwide economic shutdown.
UNPRECEDENTED PROTESTS
Saturday night witnessed the largest demonstrations since the war began, with over 100,000 people gathering in Tel Aviv. The speakers, a diverse group of current and former politicians, recently released hostages, and others, addressed the crowd. What was once a fragmented protest movement has now coalesced, presenting a unified front against almost all recent government actions, including the continuation of the war and the dismissal of Ronen Bar.
NETANYAHU’S MESSAGE OF BASELESS CLAIMS UNPACKED
As demonstrators gathered, Prime Minister Netanyahu released another video message, promising a significant disclosure. That “earth-shattering revelation” turned out to be a claim that the Qatargate investigation was merely a ploy to prevent him from firing Ronen Bar — asserting that Bar would no longer lead the Shin Bet.
Veteran, award-winning journalist Barak Ravid critically analyzed Netanyahu’s statement as follows:
Netanyahu’s “earth-shattering revelation” is a pathetic joke, which likely reflects the pressure he’s under after one of the strongest protests of the year forced people out of their homes. Now, to the actual facts:
The exposure of the Feldstein–Qatar connection on Channel 12 already took place on February 10th—well before the date on which the Shin Bet (Shabak) report was supposedly to be submitted—making all of Netanyahu’s talk today complete nonsense.
For many months during the war, there was no sign whatsoever that Netanyahu was dissatisfied with the head of the Shin Bet. In fact, there are documented praises from Netanyahu for [Ronen] Bar.
The first time Netanyahu directly attacked the Shin Bet was over the classified documents investigation. That’s where Netanyahu lost control—because he’s personally tied to the documents, along with his close aides. From that point, Ronen Bar became a target.
What does the coincidental timing between the attorney general’s decision to open an investigation and the date the Shin Bet report was supposedly due actually prove? Only in a conspiratorial mind like Netanyahu’s could such a natural and unrelated decision—made more than two weeks after the story broke—have any supposed significance.
Today, in a mockery of the concept of conflict of interest, Prime Minister Netanyahu did not participate in the vote (to move toward dismissal of AG Gali Baharav-Miara)—not because of ethical restraint, but because he is legally prohibited from participating due to his ongoing trial, with the Attorney General overseeing his prosecution.
The government justified Baharav-Miara’s dismissal by citing instances where the Attorney General allegedly obstructed government policies she had deemed illegal. Officials accused her of politicizing her office and selectively enforcing the law. In an official statement, the government asserted:
Never in the history of Israel have there been such violent disturbances of public order as those committed by opponents of the judicial overhaul — blocking major roads and the airport, wildcat strikes, arson, and vandalizing the Kohelet Forum’s offices, as well as violence against police officers and innocent civilians. Government opponents enjoyed total immunity from prosecution and a destructive tailwind.
These claims, however, are widely viewed as a smokescreen. The true reasons behind the move are twofold: First, the Attorney General’s refusal to go along with the government’s plan to continue exempting the ultra-Orthodox from military service — despite there being no law granting such an exemption. Second, and more central to Netanyahu’s agenda from the beginning, is the hope that firing the Attorney General will allow him to appoint a replacement who will either drop the criminal charges against him or agree to a favorable plea deal that enables him to remain in office.
Given Netanyahu’s absolute control over the cabinet and the government, critics view his recusal from decisions impacting his legal fate as entirely hollow. It should be noted that some of the Ministers who voted are now under investigation. The government’s recent vote to dismiss the Attorney General is merely the initial phase in the process. The decision must now be reviewed by the Judicial Appointments Committee, which originally appointed her. However, that committee is currently missing two members, and by law, one must be a former Justice Minister. Notably, all living former Justice Ministers who are not part of the current government have expressed their opposition to removal of Attorney General Baharav-Mirara.
In response, the current Justice Minister is reportedly attempting to appoint the current Speaker of the Knesset and a close Netanyahu ally Amir Ohana, who is also a former Justice Minister, to the committee. However, this appointment is expected to face legal challenges, as Ohana’s present position likely renders him and members of the government ineligible for such an appointment.
The path to firing Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara is long, complex, and it is unlikely to succeed. Yohanan Plesner, President of the Israel Democracy Institute, offers some clarification to the government’s false assertions in the following post:
Why can’t the Attorney General be “one of us”?
The opposition to the attempt to fire the Attorney General is not a personal matter. The Attorney General heads a vital public institution whose purpose is to ensure that the government acts within its legal authority. The government isn’t looking for a better legal advisor — it wants “one of our own” who will follow orders and remove constraints. This isn’t reform — it’s corruption: in budgeting, in appointments, in proper governance, and in the enforcement of the law.
But the Attorney General is obstructing the government. Isn’t the AG supposed to help the government implement its agenda?
A legal advisor is not just a “consultant” — they are also the one who defines the boundaries of ministers’ powers. Without this role, we would have a government with unlimited power, and the ones who would ultimately pay the price are the public.
Is Netanyahu involved, interfering?
The Prime Minister is prohibited from dealing with matters related to the judicial system. That’s what his [Netanyahu’s] conflict-of-interest agreement stipulates. Despite this, he is defying the court and advancing, through others, an illegitimate dismissal process. He is doing this while war is reigniting on more than one front. Instead of uniting and consolidating the public during wartime — the chief responsibility of a head of government in a time of emergency — he is once again tearing us apart.
In a healthy democracy, the Attorney General serves as a gatekeeper. In Israel of 2025, they're trying to turn the Attorney General into "one of the gang," someone who would rubber-stamp every decision and allow the government to make thousands of decisions without any checks on its power.
GAZA
Israel continued its bombing campaign in Gaza on Saturday night, eliminating one of Hamas’s top political leaders, senior official Salah Al-Bardawil, along with his wife. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) also announced further operations in Gaza:
In recent hours, IDF troops began an assault and successfully completed the encirclement of the Tel Sultan neighborhood in Rafah, located in the southern Gaza Strip. The operation aims to destroy terrorist infrastructure, eliminate militants in the area, and deepen Israeli control while expanding the security buffer in the south.
Overnight, forces surrounded the neighborhood, struck and killed several militants, and raided a terrorist facility that had served in recent months as a Hamas command and control center. The IDF stated that it is allowing civilians to evacuate the combat zone for their own safety through designated humanitarian corridors.
During the past day, the IDF have successfully targeted and eliminated key members of Hamas from the air, including Ahmed Salman Awad Shemali, who served as deputy commander of Hamas’s Gaza Brigade. Shemali was responsible for operations and was pivotal in orchestrating operations, planning offensive strategies, and overseeing force buildup for the brigade. His involvement was crucial in the preparations for the October 7 attack executed by Hamas. Additionally, during the war, Shemali oversaw the deployment and positioning of Gaza Brigade forces against IDF troops in the area.
Also killed was Jamil Omar Jamil Wadiya, the commander of the Shuja’iyya Battalion, who led the unit for most of the war after replacing terrorist Wisam Farhat, who was eliminated in December 2023. Wadiya was responsible for directing the battalion’s operations against IDF forces and worked on reorganizing and rebuilding the battalion’s capabilities.
Finally, tonight in a precision attack against the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis the IDF eliminated Ismail Barhoum, a member of the political bureau of Hamas and reportedly in charge of Hamas’s finances.
Until now, ground operations in Gaza have remained limited, and large-scale mobilization of reservists has not occurred. One reason may be concern about potential noncompliance: a significant number of reservists may not report for duty. Over the past year, attendance among reservists has steadily declined, as many have been burdened by the unprecedented number of days called for service — impacting their businesses, marriages, and overall lives.
Earlier in the war, reservists responded in high numbers, motivated by a commitment to rescue Israeli hostages. Now that it is increasingly clear that continued combat may endanger those hostages, it remains to be seen how many reservists may suddenly have prior obligations, require travel, or find other reasons not to serve.
THE NORTH
Meanwhile, tensions on the northern front continue. On Saturday, five rockets were fired at Metula, a town on the northern border. While Hezbollah denied responsibility, Israel responded with sustained airstrikes on targets in southern Lebanon.
HOUTHIS
In Yemen, the Houthis launched a missile aimed at Jerusalem on Friday evening, which was intercepted before it entered Israeli airspace. On Saturday, they fired another missile, which disintegrated mid-flight.
The United States continues its campaign against the Houthis. The strikes on Saturday night were reported to be especially intense, targeting Houthi infrastructure in response to ongoing missile launches directed at Israel and Red Sea shipping routes.
On Sunday morning, residents of Tel Aviv who may have hoped to sleep in were awakened at 7: 23 a.m. by air raid sirens, as another Houthi missile was fired toward the center of the country. This missile was also intercepted before entering Israeli airspace.
The extensive area affected by the sirens is due to the nature of these intercepts: the missiles are shot down at high altitudes, but debris — often sizable — continues to propel forward and fall, posing risks across a wide radius.
The extensive area affected by the sirens is due to the nature of these intercepts: the missiles are shot down at high altitudes, but the debris—often substantial—continues to propel forward and fall due to their inertia, posing risks over a broad radius.
FURTHER IDF INVESTIGATIONS INTO OCTOBER 7
The new IDF Chief of Staff has appointed a committee to review the army’s investigations of the events that occurred on October 7th. Additionally, the committee will follow-up and monitor the implementation of the lessons learned from these investigations.
ANOTHER CASE OF SPYING FOR IRAN
Today, the Shin Bet revealed another instance of an Israeli spying for Iran with the arrest of Eduard Yosepov, a 65-year-old from Netivot, on espionage charges. allegedly took illegal photographs of military facilities, oil refineries, and nuclear research sites, receiving tens of thousands of dollars in cryptocurrency in exchange. This arrest marks one of over a dozen cases where Israelis have been caught spying for Iran, a deeply disturbing trend.
Todays Zoom Briefing
WITKOFF ON TUCKER CARLSON
Trump Administration Special Envoy Steve Witkoff gave an interview to Tucker Carlson on Friday. It was an “interesting” interview to say the least. He stated :” “What does Hamas want? I think they want to stay there till the end of time. They want to rule Gaza, and that’s unacceptable. We had to know that… What they want is unacceptable,” “But… we can’t have a terrorist organization running Gaza because that won’t be acceptable to Israel. Then we’ll just have the same exact experiences, that every five, 10, 15 years we’re going to have another October 7.
In an interview with Tucker Carlson on Friday, Trump Administration Special Envoy Steve Witkoff gave some notable remarks. Witkoff described his views on Hamas' intentions, stating,
What does Hamas want? I think they want to stay there till the end of time. They want to rule Gaza, and that's unacceptable. We had to know that… What they want is unacceptable.
He further emphasized,
We can't have a terrorist organization running Gaza because that won't be acceptable to Israel. Then we'll just have the same exact experiences every five, 10, 15 years, similar to another October 7.
Witkoff went on to talk about Hamas and October 7th:
It was horrific. It is about mass rapes. There were pictures of Hamas people cutting the head off of an Israeli soldier… It’s beyond what I’ve ever seen … It can taint how you’re going about [Hamas]. Sometimes as a negotiator, you have to be dispassionate. It’s not easy to make decisions if you’re going to [watch the film], but I had to see [it]… We can’t ignore the reality of what happened on October 7. They would tell you that they’ve got justification, but there’s no justification… for what happened that day. Witkoff went on: You have to know what Hamas wants… and then you’ve got to figure out what you can give them that allows them to walk out because that’s what’s needed here.
What we heard in the beginning of this conflict is that Hamas is ideological, that they’re prepared to die for a whole variety of reasons. I personally — and I talked to the President about this… I said to him, ‘I don’t think that they are as ideologically locked in’. They’re not ideologically intractable. I never believed that,
Witkoff maintained. They strap the suicide vest onto young kids who don’t know what they’re doing… They tell them a story. Once you understand that [Hamas] wanted to live, then you were able to talk to them in a more effective way.
Some of the most disturbing comments from Witkoff concerned Ukraine. He laughed at the notion that Russia would want control over all of Ukraine, rhetorically questioning why they would want it. Additionally, Witkoff echoed Russian propaganda by suggesting that the majority of Ukrainians, especially those in Eastern Ukraine, favored becoming part of Russia.
ECONOMY
Against the backdrop of political uncertainty and the decision to dismiss the Attorney General, the TA-35 Index fell by 3.3%, and the TA-125 Index plunged by 3.7% — both recording their sharpest declines since October 15, 2023. The 10-year government bond yield jumped 13 basis points to 4.485%.
Sector Indices:
TA-Banks plummeted by 7.6%, its worst day since October 8, 2023.
TA-Insurance fell 7.6%.
TA-Real Estate dropped 4.6%.
TA-Oil & Gas weakened by 1.5%.
Leading Decliners:
Bank Leumi lost 8% of its value and posted the highest trading volume on the exchange. In the second-largest volume, Leumi closed down 7.3%.
Discount Bank declined 7%, Mizrahi Tefahot fell 7.8%, and First International Bank tumbled 8.1%.
Insurance Stocks:
Phoenix Holdings lost 8.5%.
Clal Insurance plunged 10%.
Harel Insurance dropped 9.9%.
Migdal Insurance fell 9%, and Menora Mivtachim declined 8.5%.
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TRAVEL ACROSS ISRAEL
Kiryat Shemonah
The next stop of our journey will be Kiryat Shemonah. Situated in the picturesque Upper Galilee region of northern Israel, close to the Lebanese border, this city boasts a rich historical narrative and holds significant regional importance. Founded in 1949, shortly after Israel's establishment, Kiryat Shmonah was initially named Kiryat Yosef, honoring Yosef Trumpeldor, a legendary Zionist pioneer. The town was soon renamed Kiryat Shmonah ("Town of the Eight") to commemorate Trumpeldor and seven others who perished defending the nearby settlement of Tel Hai in March 1920, an event that became emblematic of early Jewish settlement struggles in the region.
The early years of Kiryat Shmonah were characterized by challenges typical of many Israeli development towns. It became home to immigrants primarily from Morocco, Yemen, Romania, and Iraq, all of whom contributed to its multicultural fabric. Throughout the ensuing decades, the city faced frequent security challenges due to its proximity to Lebanon. It experienced rocket attacks during major conflicts, including the Six-Day War of 1967, the Yom Kippur War of 1973, and the Lebanon Wars in 1982 and 2006. Particularly gruesome was the tragic Kiryat Shmonah massacre in April 1974, when terrorists infiltrated the town, murdering eighteen civilians.
Today, Kiryat Shmonah has approximately 23,000 residents and serves as an educational and technological hub in the northern periphery of Israel. Its resilience and vibrant community spirit reflect decades of overcoming adversity, positioning it as an important regional center.
Visitors to Kiryat Shmonah often explore historical and natural attractions nearby. Among these, Tel Hai holds special significance. The Tel Hai Courtyard is a national landmark commemorating the 1920 battle. Visitors can tour the restored historic buildings, view exhibits that narrate the pioneers' stories, and visit the famous Roaring Lion Statue, erected in memory of the fallen defenders, notably Trumpeldor himself. The site encapsulates early Zionist ideals of courage, determination, and self-sacrifice.
Another worthwhile attraction near Kiryat Shmonah is the Agamon Hula Nature Reserve, a paradise for bird-watchers and nature enthusiasts. This lush reserve forms part of the Hula Valley, renowned as a major stopover for millions of migratory birds annually. Species such as cranes, pelicans, storks, and herons gather here in impressive numbers, offering spectacular bird-watching opportunities. Agamon Hula provides walking and cycling trails, guided tours, and educational programs highlighting ecological preservation and biodiversity.
Kiryat Shmonah, with its rich historical heritage, cultural resilience, and proximity to some of Israel’s most significant historical and natural landmarks, offers visitors a compelling destination to explore the beauty and complexity of northern Israel.