Netanyahu

The stand-off between Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the head of the Shin Bet domestic intelligence agency, Ronen Bar, has further intensified, with each man accusing the other of lies or inaccuracies in sworn depositions.

Netanyahu announced the dismissal of Bar last month, but the attorney general and the opposition have appealed against the move to the Supreme Court, which has effectively frozen it for now.

On Sunday, Netanyahu issued an affidavit for the court, in which he described Bar as a liar.

The confrontation has further exposed the deepening rifts in Israeli politics and society between the right-wing and hardliners supporting Netanyahu and the more liberal elements in the country, who took to the streets to protest against the government's moves to curb the powers of the judiciary for many months before the Hamas-led 7 October 2023 attacks that sparked the Gaza war.

It centres on Netanyahu's insistence that he fired the Shin Bet head for professional failures.