Cabinet ministers attack Halevi after Caesarea drone: 'Responses are weak'"

October 21, 2024   

After an explosive drone was launched from Lebanon on Saturday towards Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's residence in Caesarea: At the political-security cabinet meeting held yesterday, the ministers attacked Chief of Staff Herzliya Halevi and the IDF, claiming that "the responses are too weak." According to a report in Kan News, ministers in the government and the prime minister's entourage are applying pressure to intensify the military response in Iran, after the launch of the drone - this, after the targets for the attack in Iran had already been selected. According to a report on Channel 13, shortly before the cabinet convened, the prime minister met with the ministers, except for Minister Yoav Galant, and there it was agreed that the ministers would criticize senior security officials after the meeting ended. At the beginning of the meeting, Netanyahu said of his assassination attempt: "This is about crossing a bright red line" - and asked to hear ideas. Transportation Minister Miri Regev said: "We need to attack Iran directly." Ministers Avi Dichter and Yivid Levin added: "We need to hit senior political figures in Lebanon." National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said: "We need to take down a senior figure in the region." Minister Eli Cohen added: "This is a crazy event; in no war has there been an assassination attempt on a prime minister." Minister Yoav Galant He then said: "This is a serious incident that requires a tough response" - and added that he would have suggested eliminating Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, but that had already happened. After the ministers criticized him, the Chief of Staff responded: "We are managing to thwart many drones, we have strengthened our capabilities and we continue to learn and improve. There was a response. We hit important targets in Beirut at night, in the heart of the Dahiyya. A target is required for criminalization, we are not just demolishing buildings. We are preparing for a very significant hit during the coming night as well." Legal Advisor to the Prime Minister Gali Bahar-Mayara also commented, saying: "Destruction of property without justification is a war crime." Minister Dudi Amsalem replied to her: "And if we assume we run out of targets and they continue to launch hundreds of rockets and missiles every day, will we sit back and wait because there is no criminalization?" After the cabinet meeting, senior IDF officials claimed: "This is an orchestrated ambush by the ministers against the IDF." According to 'Kan News', the Chief of Staff also responded that the IDF is acting in accordance with the instructions of the political echelon, which has not yet authorized the Prime Minister and the Minister of Defense to decide on the matter.