"Israel is very close to civil war," former Supreme Court chief justice Aharon Barak said in a Channel 12 interview on Thursday. 

He made the comment when asked whether Israel was “an instant away from a civil war.”

“The rift in the nation is enormous; no effort is being made to heal it, and everyone is trying to exacerbate it,” he said.

“Today, there are protests, so a car drives through them and runs over someone, and tomorrow there will be gunshots, and the day after, blood will be spilled,” he added. 

According to Barak, “There are several red lines that we have already crossed, lines I never imagined we would reach.”

Ronen Bar, head of the Shin Bet security services attends a ceremony held at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Museum in Jerusalem, as Israel marks the annual Holocaust Remembrance Day. May 5, 2024 (credit: Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
Ronen Bar, head of the Shin Bet security services attends a ceremony held at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Museum in Jerusalem, as Israel marks the annual Holocaust Remembrance Day. May 5, 2024 (credit: Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
“A red line that said, ‘We will not establish a state commission of inquiry.’ A red line that said, ‘The legal advisor says, so what?’ The deep state is the bureaucracy that tells the elected officials what to do. We have reached a point where today, whatever the court says if it aligns with our views, we will implement it.”

Addressing Bar's potential dismissal

He asserted that the fact that the cabinet was convening to vote on the dismissal of Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) chief Ronen Bar was another red line being crossed. 

"After this red line, they will fire him tonight, and on Sunday evening, they will fire the attorney-general. Who knows what will happen on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday?" the former chief justice asked. 

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar wrote on X/Twitter shortly after, "There will be no civil war."