March 17 2025
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Q. On Sunday, PM Netanyahu announced that his government intended to fire Shin Bet Head Ronen Bar, radically exacerbating relations between the government and the security community and fueling an atmosphere of national crisis. What happened?
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A. The backdrop is criticism of Netanyahu by the Shin Bet domestic security service that has emerged into public view. Of special note is an investigation into suspicious links between Netanyahu’s senior aides and the Qataris (“Qatargate”) when Qatar was, with Bibi’s okay, funding Hamas prior to October 7.
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A public threat by Bar’s predecessor, Nadav Argaman, to expose additional problematic acts by the prime minister helped escalate the situation. The Prime Minister’s Office accuses both Shin Bet heads, current and former, of losing the PM’s trust and undermining an elected government that enjoys a popular mandate.
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The Bar firing, an affair that is developing as we write, is linked to Gaza, which in turn is linked to Yemen and the Trump administration. See more below. But first, the second front of escalation.
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Yossi Alpher's Death Tango: Ariel Sharon, Yasser Arafat and Three Fateful Days in March
"Anyone seeking to understand how Israelis and Palestinians traded the hopes of Oslo for something approaching hopelessness is well-advised to read this book. With penetrating analysis and elegant prose, Yossi Alpher has told the gripping story of three days nearly two decades ago that continue to haunt would-be peacemakers. Yossi’s faithful readers will not be disappointed with his latest effort."
Ambassador Frederic C. Hof, Bard College
"A riveting account of the crucial days in March 2002 when the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was profoundly changed for the worse. The peace camp has never recovered from those wrenching days, and we live now without any hope of a just settlement. Alpher is a highly respected expert who has spent decades studying this conflict from both sides."
Bruce Riedel, Director of the Brookings Intelligence Project
"A critical assessment of a key period in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict never before presented in such detail. The best and most capable players at the executive and political levels proved unable to forge any resolution, final or partial, because both parties continued to maintain an insurmountable gulf between themselves. This is a MUST read for anyone daring to tackle the future of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and of Israel-Arab relations in general."
Efraim Halevy, former Head of the Mossad (1998-2002)
Oraib Khader and Avi Bar-On are youngish Palestinian and Israeli bachelors with security experience, readiness to do business with one another, a shared fondness for women and money, and total cynicism about the lack of peace between their two peoples.
Oraib and Avi can never become true friends: the cultural and political gaps are too wide. But as they confront a failed peace process and a bleak peace future, they readily become business partners: shady business that exploits a lot of naïve international peace aspirations.
As Oraib sums up on a visit to Sarpsborg, Norway, where the ultimately-failed Oslo peace talks were held, “There is a lesson here for those who still doggedly and hopelessly pursue a two-state solution in the Middle East. Get smart. Get out of the Israeli-Palestinian peace business. Step back and let the Jews and Arabs screw one another while making money.”