Israeli opposition calls for general strike as Netanyahu seeks to oust security chief

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00:00Huge crowds of protesters gathered in Tel Aviv, angry at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,

00:06who they see as a threat to Israel's democracy.

00:11Opposition leader and former Prime Minister Yair Lapid was there.

00:17This government is doing everything it can to start a civil war.

00:20Netanyahu is openly pushing for it.

00:24We will not let this happen.

00:26We will fight for the country, but we will not let them destroy the country.

00:32Lapid is calling for a general strike if Netanyahu refuses to obey a Supreme Court decision freezing

00:38the government's dismissal of Ronen Ba'a, the head of Shin Bet, the Israeli Internal

00:43Security Service.

00:45Netanyahu says it is up to the government to decide who heads the domestic security

00:49agency.

00:50Ronen Ba'a will not remain head of Shin Bet.

00:56There will be no civil war and Israel will remain a democratic state.

01:00We are a nation of laws and Israeli law clearly states that the government has the authority

01:05to terminate the ISA chief's tenure before its official end.

01:12He rejects claims that Ba'a's removal was meant to prevent an investigation into his

01:16senior aide's financial ties with Qatar, saying Ba'a repeatedly delayed submitting

01:21a report on 7th of October intelligence failures with the final extension request coinciding

01:27with the Attorney General's announcement of the Qatar probe.

01:32The facts are crystal clear.

01:34The dismissal was not in order to prevent the investigation.

01:38The investigation was to prevent the dismissal.

01:43The Attorney General said on Friday that Netanyahu cannot name a replacement for Ba'a

01:49following the Supreme Court decision.

01:52Netanyahu's government meets on Sunday to begin dismissal proceedings against her.

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