Israel
Media: Violent argument at Israeli government meeting
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (M) chairs a cabinet meeting (archive photo). According to media reports, Netanyahu has postponed a meeting at which a heated argument is said to have broken out. photo
© Ohad Zwigenberg/AP Pool/dpa
The Israeli cabinet actually wants to discuss the future of the Gaza Strip, but that doesn’t happen. According to media reports, a heated argument breaks out. The head of government adjourns the meeting.
Three months after the start of the Gaza war, according to media reports, a heated argument broke out between right-wing ministers and Chief of General Staff Herzi Halevi at a meeting of the Israeli cabinet.
The ministers sharply attacked the general after he announced the establishment of a commission to investigate what errors the army made in the surprise attack by the Islamist Hamas on October 7th Israel made possible. A “loud and angry argument” broke out at the meeting on Friday night, state broadcaster Kan and the newspapers “Times of Israel” and “Jerusalem Post” reported. Kan quoted one participant as saying that “total anarchy” had broken out.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu finally postponed the meeting, which was supposed to be about the future of the Gaza Strip after the war, after several military officers left the room in anger, according to media reports that were initially unconfirmed by the government. Halevi was verbally personally attacked. The right-wing cabinet members particularly criticized the timing of the announced investigation while the fighting was still ongoing. The appointment of former Defense Minister Shaul Mofas to head the investigative commission was also met with sharp protests from right-wing ministers.
As defense minister, Mofas oversaw Israel’s withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in 2005. However, right-wing ministers such as Police Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir from the right-wing extremist party Otzma Jehudit and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich are now calling for the repopulation of the Gaza Strip after the war and a permanent military presence in the coastal strip. This is rejected by Defense Minister Joav Galant, whose plan for the “day after” is to make the Palestinians responsible for the Gaza Strip. “There will be no presence of Israeli civilians in the Gaza Strip after the war goals have been achieved,” Galant emphasized on Thursday.