Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office distributed this afternoon (Thursday) documentation of the arrival of the ministers and the prime minister to the meeting of the political-security cabinet held in Kirya in Tel Aviv.
Minister Aryeh Deri, whose case was being heard at the High Court at the time, also participated in the meeting.
The cabinet meeting was devoted to an overall political and security assessment.
The cabinet includes Prime Minister Netanyahu, Minister of Defense – Yoav Galant, Minister of Justice – Yariv Levin, Minister of Foreign Affairs – Eli Cohen, Minister of the Interior and Minister of Health – Aryeh Deri, Minister of National Security – Itamar Ben Gabir, Minister of Finance – Bezalel Smotrich, Minister for Strategic Affairs – Ron Dermer, Minister of Transportation – Miri Regev, Minister of Energy – Israel Katz and Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development – Avi Dichter.
According to a report in News 12, the cabinet discussed in detail the steps to respond to the Palestinian Authority following the application to the International Court of Justice in The Hague for the opinion on the Israeli “occupation”.
According to the report, several options were put on the table during the discussion, including the denial of VIP transit passes to Israel that were given to the senior officials of the Authority.
Most of the cabinet ministers supported the proposal. Inside the room, there was a general agreement that a “political price tag” is needed from the PA for resorting to a unilateral move that has far-reaching consequences for Israel.
It was also reported that Netanyahu asked the ministers not to leak the details from him, but it was his office that published an unblurred photo from the discussion where you can see the subject of the discussion on one of the binders seen in the photo. On the binder is written: “Response measures against the Palestinian Authority”.