Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu noted Sunday that he will aim to oust Ronen Bar, director of the country’s internal security service, the Shin Bet, this week, The Associated Press reported.

The foreign leader indicated that he has “ongoing distrust” in Bar, which “has grown over time.”

Netanyahu’s office noted that he had notified Bar that a draft resolution for his removal would be presented to the cabinet this week, the New York Times reported.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference in Jerusalem on Dec. 9, 2024. (MAYA ALLERUZZO/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

“The Shin Bet Law explicitly states that the government has the authority to terminate the service of the head of the agency before the end of their term. This law should be known to the attorney general as well. In case anyone is confused, Israel is a democracy, and everyone in it, including the attorney general, is subject to the law,” he noted, according to the Times of Israel.

The attorney general ordered a probe last month into “the connection between officials working in the Prime Minister’s Office and officials connected to the state of Qatar,” the outlet previously reported, noting that the Shin Bet is involved in conducting the investigation.

“For a year and a half, he saw no reason to fire him, but only when the investigation into Qatar’s infiltration of Netanyahu’s office and the funds transferred to his closest aides began, did he suddenly feel an urgent need to fire him immediately,” Opposition Leader Yair Lapid said of Ronen Bar in a post on X, according to the Google translation into English from Hebrew.