A cabinet meeting on Thursday night exploded after several ministers attacked representatives of the IDF who were present at the meeting, including Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, Israeli media reported overnight.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, Transportation Minister Miri Regev, and Regional Cooperation Minister David Amsalem expressed outrage that the IDF was reportedly planning to have officials who had supported the Disengagement from the Gaza Strip in 2005 take part in an inquiry into the events leading up to the October 7 massacre.
At a certain point, War Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz shouted at the ministers who were attacking the chief of staff, saying “This is a professional investigation, what does it have to do with the Disengagement and the ‘conceptzia’ (line of reasoning)? The chief of staff is f***ing conducting an investigation into what happened now to serve the goals of the war and our ability to prepare for a conflict in the north. This is not a national investigation,” according to Walla.
‘A despicable discussion’
One of the ministers told KAN news that “it was a despicable discussion that exploded. They attacked the army. Some senior members of the defense establishment left in the middle.”
Another minister stated that “we were told that they heard the yelling of the ministers from outside the meeting room.”
“It’s a shame and disgrace what happened there. You can criticize the army, but they attacked the chief of staff personally and endlessly. You have to think about whether this forum is worthy of making decisions at the level of our security policy. I don’t want to think what will happen when our soldiers in the field hear about what happened there and how they attacked their chief of staff,” said another minister to KAN.
Eventually, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu broke up the meeting, telling Halevi “sometimes you need to listen to the ministers.”