Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar of “blackmail” on Thursday, as the feud between the pair reached an unprecedented level.

The allegation was part of a statement issued by Netanyahu in response to an interview given by Bar’s predecessor Nadav Argaman who revealed that he is sitting on a trove of information that would compromise the premier that he will release to the public if the prime minister breaks the law.

Netanyahu is widely reported to have been working for months to try and oust Bar, as he seeks to place the blame for the failures that allowed for Hamas’s October 7 onslaught to unfold squarely on the security echelon, as opposed to the political leadership.

Bar is said to be pushing back against the effort, fearing that acquiescence would allow Netanyahu to appoint a loyalist in his stead.

The effort to fire Bar has been complicated in recent weeks, though, amid the launch of a joint Shin Bet-police investigation into alleged ties between several of Netanyahu’s aides and the Qatari government. Firing Bar while the investigation is ongoing would likely be perceived as a conflict of interest.

In a wide-ranging interview with Channel 12, Argaman detailed some of the disagreements he had with Netanyahu during his tenure as Shin Bet chief from 2016 to 2021, particularly surrounding the matter of Qatari aid being allowed into the Gaza Strip.

“It’s quite clear that I have a great deal of knowledge, which I can put to use… [but I’m currently keeping everything that happened between myself and the prime minister” out of the public sphere, Argaman said.

However, “If the State of Israel or if I come to the conclusion that the prime minister has decided that he is going to act in contradiction to the law, then I will not have a choice and I will say everything I know and have withheld myself from saying until today,” he warned.

Netanyahu quickly hit back at Argaman, accusing him of blackmail in a statement posted to X.

“Tonight, another dangerous red line was crossed for Israeli democracy,” the premier said. “Never, in the entire history of Israel, and the history of democracy, has the former head of a security service blackmailed a sitting prime minister on live television.”

“The criminal, mafia-style threats will not deter me,” asserted Netanyahu. “I will do whatever is necessary to ensure Israel’s security.”

Netanyahu then lodged the same “blackmail” accusation against Bar. He offered limited detail to explain the claim but claimed the Shin Bet chief held a series of off-record briefings with certain reporters in recent days in order to tarnish the premier.

“The only goal is to try and prevent me from making the decisions needed to restore the Shin Bet after its abysmal failure on October 7,” said the premier.

Bar’s agency issued a statement responding to Netanyahu, asserting that the Shin Bet chief “devotes all of his time to security matters, efforts to recover the hostages and the defense of democracy. Any statement to the contrary is devoid of any truth.”

During the Channel 12 interview, Argaman said Netanyahu tried to “buy peace [in Gaza] with Qatari money,” even though it was clear that the strategy would eventually backfire.

Netanyahu decided in 2018 to allow Qatari money into the Gaza Strip after the Palestinian Authority cut off funding to Hamas, leaving Israel fearful of unrest in the coastal enclave, Argaman recalled.

“The State of Israel wanted peace in the Gaza Strip and was looking for ways to bring in the money. They chose Qatar because Qatar agreed to do it,” Argaman said, adding that he believed the idea to be a “very serious mistake” from the get-go.

He said that Netanyahu nevertheless went ahead with the plan, despite the security service’s warning, as “the strategy of his government was quiet in the Gaza Strip.”

Netanyahu’s critics have long accused him of trying to bolster Hamas at the PA’s expense, keeping Palestinian factions divided to further undermine efforts to advance a two-state solution. The premier has argued that the Qatari money was authorized in order to prevent a humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

“We bought peace with Qatari money — it was clear to everyone that this would backfire on us one day,” Argaman said. “The prime minister knew, the cabinet knew. The issues were presented more than once or twice.”

He acknowledged, however, that the Shin Bet, as well as the IDF, “should have done everything in their power to stop the Qatari funds” from flowing into Gaza.

Argaman also touched on the ongoing investigation — which has been placed under a sweeping gag order — into ties between members of the Prime Minister’s Office and Doha and allegations that hundreds of thousands of dollars had flowed from Qatar to figures linked to the premier.

Asked whether the alleged ties — should they be proven to be true — could have occurred without Netanyahu’s knowledge, Argaman said the prime minister “knows everything that happens in his office, nothing happens without his approval.”

“I think the first person who should have jumped to demand a Shin Bet investigation…into whether there were Qatari ties to the prime minister’s office, is the prime minister himself,” said the ex-Shin Bet chief.

Argaman didn’t hide his distaste for the Qatari government during the interview, telling Channel 12 that he believes forging ties with Doha is akin to “dancing with the devil.”

“Qatar is part of the Shiite axis,” he said of the majority Sunni nation. “They’re the ones who allowed Hamas to build its terrorist army in the Gaza Strip. If, god forbid, it managed to gain control of the Prime Minister’s Office, it would mean that it influences the prime minister, the Prime Minister’s Office, the State of Israel’s policy toward Hamas in general and the hostage deal in particular.”

“That sounds to me like a catastrophe, and I hope that there’s nothing true about it,” he said of the allegations.

Argaman also told Channel 12 that he believes the ongoing investigation into his office is the reason that Netanyahu has yet to fire Bar, as doing so could be flagged as a conflict of interest.

He urged Bar to hold off on resigning over the failures leading up to the October 7, 2023, Hamas onslaught — although he said Bar should eventually do so — as he does not believe Netanyahu would make an apolitical decision regarding his successor.

“I am extremely afraid of the possibility that an appointment made by this government, an appointment made by this prime minister, could be a political appointment,” Argaman said.