Israeli minister accused Gantz of leaking the War Cabinet sessions to the media

An Israeli minister from the Likud party led by Benjamin Netanyahu accused the Minister of the War Cabinet, Benny Gantz, and another minister from his party of leaking the proceedings of the security cabinet to the media.

Regional Cooperation Minister David Amsalem said during a plenary meeting of the Knesset on Monday evening, “I always ask myself, who leaked? Look at who benefits from the leak, who has an interest, who documented the false situation”.

He added, “Therefore, I tell you, those who leaked it were Ministers Yehiel Tropper and Benny Gantz, because they wanted to mock us, and this leak came from their direction”.

Amsalem was referring to the incident of Transportation Minister Miri Regev eating “popcorn” in a cabinet session, on Friday, during a heated verbal clash between the extremist Ministers of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, and Defense Minister, Yoav Galant, over how to manage the war in Gaza.

According to Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, Regev said, “Oh! The show started, and now I’m going to get the popcorn out… I got out a bag of popcorn”.

“They made it a media item in all the studios to find out who eats popcorn and what kind,” Amsalem said in the Knesset session on Monday evening.

For his part, Yehiel Tropper responded to Amsalem by saying, “I think you should be careful of accusations and generalizations… You talk a lot about stereotypes and camps, and that’s exactly what you just did… I would suggest that you be more careful regarding leaks and in general”.

He added, “You alone entered, before voting on the unity law during the war, into the plenary session of the Knesset to stir up rift and division”.

The Israeli political system is witnessing several divisions, including severe disagreements between the ministers of the right-wing coalition led by Netanyahu on the one hand and the ministers of the official camp led by Benny Gantz on the other hand.