Yesha Council leaders
Yesha Council leadersArutz Sheva

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu plans to host a meeting with the heads of the Jewish local government councils in Judea and Samaria at his residence Tuesday evening, but the meeting was in doubt for some time due to a dispute over photographs.

The Judea and Samaria leaders decided to ask Netanyahu not to have photos taken of the meeting, opting for a "closed door" meeting instead.

Netanyahu's bureau, for its part, rejected the request and said that there would be no meeting without a photo.

Following this ultimatum, several Judea and Samaria leaders asked not to take part in the meeting, so as not to participate in "the prime minister's PR," as they termed it.

The leaders said that they would decide about meeting Netanyahu after they meet the IDF's Head of Central Command.

Eventually, the Yesha Council, the umbrella group of Judea and Samaria local government leaders, announced that the leaders would be meeting Netanyahu at 8 p.m and that the Council will brief reporters afterward.

Tension between PM and community leaders

During a tour of Samaria earlier on Tuesday, Netanyahu could not resist slamming the local Jewish leaders who have blamed him of not giving sufficient backing to IDF officers and soldiers fighting the terror wave, and not giving them a fee enough hand to do so.

"I would like to clarify that the IDF, along with the other security arms, do a lot of other things, and will continue to do so even more," he said Tuesday in Samaria. "There is no question of backing, there is no question of support – it is given generously and everyone knows it, everyone except those who say the opposite, and I think that even they know it. Local leaders must show the necessary responsibility, including those in the various communities, perhaps foremost in the communities, to act responsibly, to be precise. We are in an ongoing struggle. Such a struggle does not require harsh criticism, it requires a lot of strength, a resolute attitude, much composure and thoroughness – this is what we are doing."

The Yesha Council fired back at Netanyahu.

"In this complicated time, when the settlement enterprise faces terror attacks and is dealing courageously with sights that are very hard to look at, and additional bereaved families, we expect the prime minister and defense minister not to criticize and impugn the settlement enterprise," the Yesha Council said in a statement.

The local government leaders clarified: "Our struggle is one of responsibility and that is how it is being run. The prime minister and defense minister need to stop making gestures that ease conditions for the Palestinians, which make the harsh attacks possible, and renew construction in place of the freeze, which projects national weakness and invites terror in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria."