Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prevented on Wednesday a senior leader of the Jewish Home party from attending a security cabinet meeting, Israeli media reported.
The meeting was to discuss the future of the Israeli military operation in the occupied West Bank, which is purportedly aimed at searching for the three Israeli settlers who went missing on 12 June.
Head of the Jewish Home party and Economy Minister Naftali Bennett had asked the senior leader of his party, Construction and Housing Minister Uri Ariel, to attend the meeting in order to add another conservative voice to the discussion, but without getting the necessary permission.
Bennett was responding Netanyahu’s recent inclusion of two ministers from his coalition who are not members of the security cabinet and yet have been attending the meetings: Minister of Strategic and Intelligence Affairs Yuval Steinitz and Minister of Science and Technology Jacob Perry.
According to Israel’s Haaretz newspaper, Bennett wanted to include Ariel in order to balance out what he called the “leftist” mix of the group.
The newspaper reported that Netanyahu rebuked Bennett and ordered for Ariel to leave the meeting because he is not a member of the security cabinet. The situation developed into a verbal clash between Netanyahu and Bennett, with Netanyahu subsequently yelling, “Get out!” at Ariel.
Ariel left the meeting, with Bennett joining him in an act of solidarity, although the latter returned to the meeting shortly thereafter.