Government disputes force cancellation of Israel cabinet meeting

Benjamin Netanyahu cancelled his weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday due to disputes with his ministers over Israel’s position regarding Gaza, Quds Press reported yesterday.

Other reports claimed that Education Minister Naftali Bennett asked Israel’s Attorney General to force the Prime Minister to convene the security cabinet “as soon as possible”. Bennett complained that Netanyahu had excluded him from decision-making regarding the situation in the Gaza Strip. He wanted to put him on the spot during the meeting.

Expressing his rejection of Netanyahu’s policy in Gaza, Bennett said that Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked would vote against the deal with Hamas, considering it as a “surrender”. All three are engaged in a bitted General Election campaign.

“Israel has taken limited action [in Gaza] in a way that does not create the necessary deterrence against Hamas’s actions, which are aimed at harming the security of the citizens of Israel,” Bennett claimed. He demanded that he be given the position of Defence Minister. “A ceasefire will cost us in blood. Give me the keys [to Defence], I know what to do. I know what to implement. I know what to replace. I know whom to replace.”

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