Israel ministers boycott cabinet meetings

Amidst increased tensions among coalition partners in Israel’s government, two ministers have announced they will no longer attend cabinet meetings because of their “irrelevant agenda”, local media reported yesterday.

Justice Minister Avi Nissenkorn and Communications Minister Yoaz Hendel did not attend yesterday’s meeting in protest against a deal signed between the Blue and White (Kahol Lavan) and Likud parties to proceed with ministerial appointments after months of disagreements, the Times of Israel reported.

The deal between the two parties sees the appointment of Yaheli Rotenberg as the new accountant general at the Likud-run Finance Ministry, and Hod Betzer as director-general at the office of the alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz.

According to the newspaper, the agreement on the appointments was reached between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Gantz, who did not consult his party leaders on the issue.

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Israeli opposition leader MK Yair Lapid hailed Nissenkorn’s decision, describing it as a move “based on values” and referred to the agreement between Netanyahu and Gantz as “disgraceful”.

On Twitter, he wrote: “Instead of worrying about education, health and the economy, Gantz arranges fabricated jobs in nonexistent offices for his friends.”