On at least two occasions, Gallant has invited Barnea to attend meetings and received messages from Netanyahu’s office that the premier disapproves.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly been preventing Defense Minister Yoav Gallant from holding separate meetings with Mossad chief David Barnea or Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, without him.
Israeli media reported that the meetings concern efforts to secure the release of Israeli captives held in Gaza.
According to The Times of Israel, Channel 12, “citing unnamed government sources, reported that Netanyahu cannot prevent Gallant from meeting with senior military and security officials.” However, the PM “has barred him from including Barnea when the prime minister is not part of the discussion,” the report adds.
On at least two occasions, Gallant has invited Barnea to attend meetings and received messages from Netanyahu’s office that the premier disapproves, according to the report cited by the Times of Israel.
On the 82nd day of the Israeli genocide in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army continued its military operations by land, air and sea.https://t.co/KvZsuXqOVh pic.twitter.com/xq75O2LkYI
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) December 27, 2023
It further added that “the Ynet news site reported that Netanyahu fumed after Gallant ordered Barnea to come and update him immediately after returning from a secret trip to Paris to discuss a hostage release deal, before he had updated the prime minister.”
“Gallant’s office did not respond to the reported claims,” the Times of Israel report added. While the Prime Minister’s office reportedly said there are no such limitations on Gallant or Barnea.
The PM’s office, however, said that “the war cabinet is the only body that “outlines policy and decides on the matter of the hostages and those missing,” the Times of Israel said. The office added “that there ‘is no exception,’” the report said.
The Middle East Monitor reported that the Israeli paper, Yedioth Ahronoth, quoted sources close to Netanyahu accusing Gallant and his “associates” of leaking reports claiming that the premier had stopped a preemptive attack on Hezbollah after October 7, which Gallant had pushed for.
ISRAELI CHANNEL 12: A soldier from the Paratroopers Brigade returning from Gaza opened fire after waking up from a nightmare and wounded his comrades.
FOLLOW OUR LIVE BLOG:https://t.co/KvZsuXrmKP pic.twitter.com/Wz9xE3a3bo
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) December 27, 2023
The Times of Israel reports that even though publicly, “Gallant and Netanyahu have professed to be working in lockstep during the ongoing war, cracks in the relationship between the men have still been on display on a handful of occasions.”
Earlier this year, Netanyahu fired Gallant, just one day after the Defence Minister broke ranks by calling on the government to halt a very controversial plan to overhaul the judicial system.
The firing “set off an uproar among the public, including unprecedented spontaneous mass protests and disorder,” The Times of Israel reported.
Netanyahu reversed his decision, leaving Gallant in his post.
(PC, MEMO)
