Bar’s Remarks Reveal Netanyahu’s ‘Deliberate Manipulation’ of Talks – Hamas

March 21, 2025 News
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and top Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya. (Design: Palestine Chronicle)

By Palestine Chronicle Staff  

“These confessions from within the occupation leadership confirm that Netanyahu was and remains the real obstacle to any exchange deal.”

The Palestinian Resistance movement Hamas has said that recent statements by Shin Bet Chief Ronen Bar reveal Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s “deliberate manipulation” of the Gaza ceasefire and prisoner exchange negotiations.

Bar’s statements in a letter on Thursday “reveal the criminal Netanyahu’s deliberate manipulation of the negotiations, his efforts to thwart any agreement and then obstruct it once reached, for his own political purposes,” Hamas said in a statement on Friday.

“These confessions from within the occupation leadership confirm that Netanyahu was and remains the real obstacle to any exchange deal,” the statement added.

Netanyahu ‘Blocked’ Bar

According to Bar, Netanyahu had blocked him from meeting with Israeli ministers throughout 2024 to keep information about the negotiations hidden from the Israeli government, the Anadolu news agency reported.

He claimed that Netanyahu’s actions were intended to “carry out negotiations that would not lead to an agreement.”

The Israeli cabinet overnight on Thursday unanimously earlier approved the dismissal of Bar, with the Times of Israel reporting that the move marked the first time in the country’s history that the head of its internal security agency had been fired. The country’s High Court of Justice however issued a issued a temporary injunction on Friday preventing the ousting of Bar.

Hamas said that Netanyahu’s attempts “to exclude influential security figures from the negotiations reflect his internal crisis and the deepening crisis of trust between him and his security establishment.”

“They also reveal his lack of seriousness in reaching a real agreement,” the movement emphasized.

Call to US Officials

Hamas said Bar’s revelations “confirmed” that Netanyahu “sought to engineer formal negotiations used to stall and buy time, without achieving tangible results.”

The movement called on American officials to “stop holding Hamas responsible for obstructing the agreements, and accuse Netanyahu of direct responsibility for the continued suffering of the prisoners and their families.”

“We hold the criminal Netanyahu and his extremist government fully responsible for prolonging the suffering of their prisoners and their families,” it added.

“We emphasize that the only way to release the prisoners is to stop the aggression, return to negotiations, and implement the agreement, free from failed political maneuvering,” the statement concluded.

Netanyahu justified Bar’s dismissal, saying he had lost faith in the Shin Bet chief after the October 7 resistance operation.

He said Bar “had a soft approach” and was “not the right person to rehabilitate the organization,” according to his office, the Times of Israel reported.

No Advancement on Deal

On Thursday, Bar sent a letter to the government in response to Netanyahu’s decision, arguing that the dismissal was based on “unfounded claims” and suggesting ulterior motives behind it “designed to disrupt the ability of the Shin Bet to fulfill its role.”

Bar claimed, the report added, that there was no basis for Netanyahu’s insistence that there was no trust between them, “except if the real intention, which I apparently failed to understand, was to negotiate without reaching a deal.”

He also reportedly claimed that Netanyahu’s decision to remove him and Mossad chief David Barnea from the prisoner exchange negotiations “harmed the team and did not advance the release at all.”

For the past 16 months, Hamas has been engaged in talks with Israel mediated by Qatar, Egypt, and the US, resulting in the first phase of a ceasefire agreement taking effect in January. The deal brought to a halt Israel’s genocidal onslaught on the enclave and the release of several Israeli captives in exchange for more than 1,000 Palestinian detainees.

Ceasefire Collapse

Netanyahu has refused to proceed with Phase 2 of the agreement and after Phase 1, immediately imposed a blockade on all humanitarian aid entering Gaza.

On March 18, Israel resumed airstrikes on the enclave, breaking the ceasefire that began on January 19.

The latest military actions have killed hundreds of Palestinians and injured many more, primarily civilians, including women and children.

While the violations have been condemned by numerous countries and human rights groups, the US has continued its support for Israel, asserting that the military campaign was carried out with prior knowledge and approval from Washington.

Since October 2023, Israel has killed over 49,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and left Gaza in ruins.

In November 2024, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, accusing them of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in the enclave.

(PC, Anadolu)

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