The truce reached between the Israeli government and Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip has become a central issue in the electoral race.
Mediated by an Egyptian intelligence delegation, the truce was severely criticized by leaders of the far right, with one party threatening to refrain from entering the next government coalition.
Education Minister Naftali Bennett called for holding an immediate private cabinet session, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused his request.
Instead, Netanyahu decided to cancel the regular cabinet meeting scheduled for Wednesday and take his Likud members to the occupied Syrian Golan Heights to celebrate the US recognition of its annexation to Israel.
But an infuriated Bennett, requested Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit to pressure Netanyahu to immediately convene the cabinet in an attempt to stop the implementation of the truce agreement with Hamas, re-close the border crossings opened earlier between the Gaza Strip and Israel, and prevent the transfer of the monthly Qatari funds to the movement, which have almost tripled (from 15 to 40 million dollars).
“We have to deter and weaken Hamas not strengthen it,” Bennett stressed.
“It makes no sense for the prime minister to manage the events in Gaza while excluding the cabinet ministers,” he wrote in his letter to Mandelblit.
He said he had in vain approached the premier’s military secretary and the head of the National Security Council to convene the cabinet meeting.
“It is inconceivable that the management of such security events is carried out solely by the prime minister and defense establishment without including cabinet ministers, who bare the responsibility under the law to manage such matters,” Bennett explained.
His electoral campaign has mainly focused on the situation in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. He has also been exploiting opinion polls, showing that 64 percent of Israelis say Netanyahu failed to manage the conflict with Hamas in the recent round of conflict.
Bennett, who demanded the post of defense minister in the next government, has been an outspoken critic of Netanyahu’s handling of the security threat from Gaza.
“Only I can deter Hamas,” he stressed.
