Israeli Channel 12 revealed that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prevented Mossad chief David Barnea and Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar from participating in a security meeting described as “sensitive.”
The channel explained that the meeting was supposed to include, in addition to the head of the Mossad (Israeli foreign intelligence), the head of the Shin Bet (the Israeli internal security service), Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Galant, and Chief of Staff Herzi Halevy.
In turn, the Prime Minister’s Office said that Netanyahu “does not prevent the head of the Mossad from attending security meetings,” explaining that he attends them “according to their specified schedule.”
The channel also revealed that Netanyahu prevented Defense Minister Yoav Galant during the last week from holding a security meeting related to Israeli detainees in Gaza in the presence of the head of the Mossad.
Disagreements escalated between Netanyahu, members of the Israeli War Council, and military and security leaders against the backdrop of his policies regarding the war on Gaza and the exchange of prisoners with the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), and these differences came to light on several occasions.
Since last October 7, Israel has been waging a war on Gaza that has left, to date, 21,507 martyrs and 55,915 injured – the majority of whom are children and women – in addition to massive destruction in residential neighborhoods, infrastructure, and hospitals.
This war came after the “Al-Aqsa Flood” battle, during which the Palestinian resistance launched a land, sea and air attack on settlements around the Gaza Strip, which led to the killing of about 1,400 Israelis and the capture of about 250 others, including high-ranking military personnel. This revealed what was described as a security and intelligence failure inside Israel and exposed Netanyahu received severe criticism.