A sharp contrast to the usual statements by former intelligence and military officials came on Israel’s state radio channel Reshet Bet in an interview with longtime Israel Security Agency (Shabak) operative Moshe Fuzaylov, who held significant positions within the organization.
Host Liat Regev wanted to speak with him about the dismissal of Shabak chief Ronen Bar. She likely did not expect what he would say—especially since just half an hour earlier, she had interviewed elderly former Mossad head Efraim Halevy, who was placing all the blame on Netanyahu.
So Regev kept interrupting Fuzaylov, speaking over him frequently. She tried to extract from him the idea that Netanyahu is firing Ronen Bar (whom she described as an excellent and responsible professional) out of personal revenge—because Bar refused to issue a certificate exempting Netanyahu from attending court hearings due to the war, and because Bar was assigned to investigate «Qatargate» (allegations that people connected to the Prime Minister’s Office acted on Qatar’s behalf to improve its image in the Israeli media).
The host seemed to be putting these well-worn talking points into the interviewee’s mouth. Normally, her guests repeat them eagerly, and then the station broadcasts these as the opinions of both experts and ordinary people.
But things didn’t go as planned with Moshe Fuzaylov. He spoke confidently and with authority, resisting provocation. Despite constant interruptions and attempts to drown him out, Fuzaylov managed to say what he believed needed to be said.
Host: «If Ronen Bar is so bad, why didn’t Netanyahu fire him right after October 7? Clearly, it’s revenge!»
Fuzaylov: «Because right after that tragedy, Ronen Bar publicly stated that he takes responsibility for what happened and promised to resign once he had corrected the mistake. Netanyahu believed him. But Bar hasn’t fixed the situation [hasn’t brought the hostages home, hasn’t helped the army defeat Hamas], and he hasn’t resigned.»
Host: «Do you think only Ronen Bar is to blame for the October 7 tragedy? What about Netanyahu?»
Fuzaylov: “When Ariel Sharon decided to withdraw from Gaza, he was asked, ‘What if attacks are launched at Israel from there?’ Sharon replied: ‘If Shabak and the army do their job well, that won’t happen.’
The Prime Minister and ministers can’t command divisions or Shabak. They appoint the leaders of these bodies, and those leaders are responsible for everything in their domain. And these leaders failed in their duties.”
Host: “Are you really saying Ronen Bar was an unfit Shabak head?”
Fuzaylov: “When a police officer doesn’t trust a Shabak officer and, to protect himself, records the Shabak officer instructing him to break the law—that’s bad leadership by the Shabak head.” (Author’s note: A recent scandal broke on this topic, which the media quickly downplayed). “If a Shabak employee is forced to remove documents from the system and hand them over to others—that’s the Shabak head’s responsibility.”
Host: “Isn’t that Minister Shikli’s fault?” (Author’s note: He received the document).
Even I know the answer to that: Minister Amichai Shikli didn’t go digging around in Shabak or try to recruit a mole. A Shabak officer concluded that the Shabak head was hiding vital information from the government and took it directly to the minister.
Fuzaylov added, pushing through the host’s angry shouting: “I don’t know whether there are personal motives behind the dismissal, but in a democratic country, intelligence agencies must follow government orders without question. Imagine if the government orders the army to attack an enemy state and the Chief of Staff refuses. If there’s no trust between the government and the intelligence agencies—that’s the end of the country. If Ronen Bar has complaints against Netanyahu, he can express them after he resigns—in interviews, in a book. Right now, his actions are causing enormous damage to the country.”
That is Moshe Fuzaylov’s opinion.
After Fuzaylov, Likud party MK Keti Shitrit was brought on to speak on the same issue. She reminded listeners that even before «Qatargate» surfaced, Netanyahu had asked Bar to provide a report from an internal investigation into Shabak’s role in the October 7 failure and to resign. Bar delayed and now links his dismissal to Qatargate. For “balance,” the station also interviewed opposition MK Naama Lazimi, who flatly stated that Netanyahu is firing Bar to “bury Qatargate.” Her statement was then solemnly read in the news as gospel truth—while Fuzaylov and Shitrit’s words were ignored. A clear example of skilled “balanced” information filtering for the purpose of brainwashing.
As for the opinion of former Mossad head Efraim Halevy: his assessments should not be taken too seriously. A few years ago, when Syrian forces accidentally shot down a Russian plane while targeting an Israeli jet, Halevy confidently declared that within two months, there would be a war between Israel and Russia because of Netanyahu. We’re still waiting.
This was translated from Russian to English.
Yuri Moor-Muradov