Wednesday, April 09, 2025
Disclaimer: the views expressed here are solely those of the author, weekly Judean Rose columnist Varda Meyers Epstein.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s dismissal of Shin Bet
Chief Ronen Bar, despite being put on hold by the High Court, is a decision
every Israeli should back to safeguard the rights of all Israeli citizens.
Regavim, a nonprofit focused on countering illegal land seizures in Judea and
Samaria and debunking myths like “settler violence,” supports Bar’s removal.
This isn’t some partisan shake-up—it’s a necessary confrontation with an agency
that, under Bar’s leadership, abandoned its mission to protect all Israelis.
Rather than uphold security, the Shin Bet under Bar singled out Jewish settlers
in Judea and Samaria for groundless detentions and deep-seated contempt, even
as Arab terror grew unchecked. A leaked recording from April 2025 has exposed
this outrage, confirming that Bar’s departure is critical.
The “Shmucks” Revelation: Settlers as Scapegoats
The Shin Bet’s Jewish Division, tasked with monitoring
internal threats, has been caught admitting to a chilling practice: arresting
Jewish settlers without evidence. In a recording published by Kan News on April
6, 2025, the division head, identified as “A,” bragged to former Judea and
Samaria police commander Avishai Mualem, “We arrest these jerks even without evidence
for a few days. Put them in detention cells with mice.” The “jerks?” Jewish
settlers, whom “A” elsewhere derided as “shmucks” unworthy of due process. This
wasn’t a slip but a glimpse into a systemic bias that thrived under Bar’s
leadership.
Israel
Hayom’s report captures the outrage: the Prime Minister’s Office labeled it
“a shocking revelation” and “a real danger to democracy,” demanding an
investigation. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called out the “draconian Shin
Bet powers against settlers” as “undemocratic, unequal, illegal, and
unconstitutional.” The recording confirms what settlers and groups like Regavim
have long claimed: the Shin Bet wasn’t combating terror—it was persecuting Jews
in their ancestral homeland.
A Legacy of Contempt
The “shmucks” comment that no one was supposed to hear,
wasn’t a stray remark or isolated event. Rather contempt for the Jews of Judea
and Samaria—and the misplaced obsession with them—was a feature of Shin Bet
policy under Bar by deliberate design. October 7 and its devastating aftermath
stem, in large measure, from the rotten fruit of Bar’s tenure. While Hamas in
Gaza prepared to torch, rape, and slaughter Jews in the south, Bar fixated on
targeting Jewish settlers in Judea and Samaria.
Regavim’s Meir Deutsch has charged the Shin Bet with
“nurturing a false myth” of settler violence while “concealing the real data”
on threats like Hamas. Their forthcoming report, "Settler Violence: Facts
vs Narrative," will expose the UN’s inflated claims—thousands of alleged
incidents shrinking to just a handful under scrutiny. When Regavim pressed for
transparency, Bar’s agency stonewalled, shielding its failures and amplifying a
libel that endangered Jews instead of safeguarding them.
Rachel Touitou Weighs In
I put some questions to Regavim International Press
Spokesperson Rachel Touitou: Why does the Shin Bet target settlers? Is it a
political issue? Abuse of power? Is this why Netanyahu is agitating for a
change in leadership?
Touitou’s response underscores the need to clean house—to install new Shin Bet leadership—leadership
that will uphold its original mandate of protecting all Israeli citizens. “From
the data we analyzed in the report, there is a distinct and clear pattern that
permeated the Shin Bet, reflecting a deeply engrained mindset or ‘conceptzia’
as we say in Hebrew,” said Touitou. “Rather than allocating resources and
efforts toward addressing the tangible threat that culminated in the events of
October 7th, the Shin Bet has been, and continues to be, focused on a marginal
phenomenon/issue—namely, unfounded accusations of blood libel directed at
Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria. This focus has inadvertently provided
material to the United Nations and certain extreme leftist organizations which
subsequently leverage it to discredit Israel and advocate for sanctions against
its citizens.
“To your question whether it is a political issue or
not—I’ll answer with another question: why does the Shin Bet dedicate an entire
department with huge resources called ‘the Jewish Department’ and never opened
one—or thought to open one—called the ‘anarchists department?’ That would be a
good question to ask their spokesperson.”
Touitou’s words cut to the core of the matter: Bar’s Shin
Bet wasn’t distracted—it was obsessed with a fiction that fueled global attacks
on Israel while ignoring the real enemies at the gate.
Ignoring the Real Enemy
The Shin Bet’s misplaced scorn didn’t just undermine
trust—it left Israel exposed. While Bar’s agency hounded Jews in Judea and
Samaria, the Gaza threat grew into the nightmare of October 7th. The Jewish
Division’s head mocked IDF soldiers in the the Jewish heartland as “worthless” settlers,
per Israel Hayom, showing an arrogance that dismissed Israel’s defenders. Bar
backed this view, telling police commanders that “hilltop youth” outranked Arab
rioters as a threat—a fantasy with deadly consequences.
The agency’s refusal to shield settlers from Arab terror,
paired with its zeal to detain them without cause, tells a grim story. These
Jews, rooted in their biblical heartland, weren’t overlooked—they were hunted
by the entity meant to protect them. Bar turned the Shin Bet into a tool
against its own people, not their foes.
A Dismissal Well-Earned—And a Passover Parallel
The High Court may have delayed Bar’s ouster, but the
evidence is ironclad. The “shmucks” tape, Regavim’s data, and the Shin Bet’s
record under Bar reveal a rot that demanded removal. This wasn’t about
competence—it was about a hatred for settlers that corrupted an agency tasked
with Israel’s survival. Smotrich’s demand to fire Bar and “A” isn’t overreach; but
a call for justice.
As Regavim’s report nears release, the truth will be clear: Bar’s Shin Bet betrayed its mission. His dismissal isn’t a setback—it’s a chance to reclaim an agency meant to defend, not destroy, Israel’s citizens. With Passover starting April 11—just two days away—this feels apt. As we scour our homes of chametz, purging the leaven that corrupts, so must Israel’s government cleanse its ranks of rot. Bar’s exit, though stalled, is a step toward that renewal—a Pesach house-cleaning of the highest stakes. I stand with Regavim in hailing this purge, as all Israelis should.
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