The Prime Minister expressed hope that he could reach an agreement on the matter • Defense Minister Ganz: "Officials in Netanyahu's office asked to stop a discussion in the Civil Administration with the approval of Palestinian construction"
Netanyahu and Gantz
Photography:
AFP / Coco
Tensions between Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Gantz over the issue of young settlement and Palestinian construction in Judea and Samaria.
Netanyahu emphasized today (Sunday) at the cabinet meeting that a discussion is taking place with the Ministry of Defense regarding the outposts.
"This is a humanitarian issue," the prime minister said, "people who do not have electricity and water. I very much hope we can reach an agreement in the next day or two, because it needs to be resolved. There is no justification for it and it causes unnecessary suffering."
On the other hand, Defense Minister Bnei Gantz attacked Netanyahu in what he defined as direct intervention with IDF officials at a meeting of the Civil Administration held this morning.
According to the blue-and-white chairman, this is an exceptional intervention attempt that is under the sole authority of the defense minister. "I will not allow the prime minister to intervene in the work of the army and the civilian administration," Ganz said.
In addition, the Minister instructed the defense establishment and the Civil Administration to operate exclusively through the usual channels.
He claimed that this morning, with the start of the Civil Administration meeting that discussed Palestinian construction permits, officials from the Prime Minister's Office contacted the representatives of the Civil Administration directly and asked to stop the discussion in progress.
The military officials followed the usual procedure and updated the Defense Minister's office, which instructed them to continue with the meeting.