No. 19: Ronen Bar: The Shin Bet chief helping eliminate terror threats
Ronen Bar, the head of thee Shin Bet, has overseen the elimination of multiple terror figures posing threats to Israel's national security.
Ronen Bar was chosen to head the Shin Bet in 2021. At the time, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett described Bar as “a daring fighter and an excellent commander. I have no doubt that he will lead the agency to new highs of excellence in the name of Israel’s security.”
Like IDF Chief of Staff Lt-Gen. Herzi Halevi, he is blamed as the Shin Bet chief who failed to give a warning in advance to stop Hamas’s October 7, 2023 invasion, considered the most colossal intelligence disaster since the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Also like Halevi, he promised shortly after the start of the war to resign early as a sign of taking responsibility. On the flip side, most say that the Shin Bet has been instrumental in hunting down Hamas’s high command, including its military chief Mohammed Deif, and many others. Also, the spy agency has been critical in gaining intelligence from interrogating Hamas detainees to better learn Hamas’s strategies and to find Israeli hostages. Despite those intelligence successes, Bar has been criticized, though not quite as harshly as Halevi, for not fulfilling his promise to resign early. The Dhin Bet chief remains committed to resigning early, but has not given a deadline.
Born in 1965, Bar received a BA from Tel Aviv University and an MA in Public Management from Harvard University.
He rose through the ranks of the IDF, serving in the elite Sayeret Matkal unit before joining the Shin Bet. As he advanced through the security agency’s ranks, he assumed leadership of the Operation’s Division in 2011 and subsequently became the deputy head of the agency in 2018.
Bar was involved in coordinating joint operations with the IDF prior to taking the reins of the agency. When he assumed control, the Shin Bet was going through a shift, much like the IDF and other security forces in general, towards more reliance on technology to confront Israel’s threats.
Before and after October 7: The role of Ronen Bar
In 2023, prior to the Hamas attack in October, the Shin Bet foiled hundreds of terror attacks. However, it failed to discover or prevent the Hamas massacre of October 7. Since then, Bar has been focused on defeating Hamas in Gaza and fortifying Israel’s other fronts against threats.
During the war, he has been to Gaza to witness operations firsthand. For instance, in January 2024, he went to Khan Yunis to see the extensive Hamas tunnels uncovered under the city. During one trip there, Bar told the IDF and Shin Bet forces in the city that he was “happy to meet here in the streets of Khan Yunis both [Shin Bet] coordinators and our troops who work with you.” He added, “no force can stand against this combination.”