Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a series of security discussions on Monday that preceded the meeting of the security cabinet and which included all the Cabinet ministers, with the exception of Itamar Ben Gvir and Miri Regev, Channel 13 News reported onTuesday.
The report stated that Netanyahu's office invited Minister Bezalel Smotrich to some of those security discussions.
Reporter Moriah Asraf summed up the report and said, "Further evidence that Netanyahu and the defense establishment treat Ben Gvir and Smotrich in a completely different way. While Ben Gvir is seen as a troll, Smotrich is seen as a person with different views but one with whom you can have a dialogue."
The Prime Minister's Office denied the report and said, "In response to reporters' inquiries, there is no truth to the report that Ministers Ben Gvir and Regev were excluded from security consultations. Prime Minister Netanyahu frequently holds security discussions to which various ministers are invited from time to time, on a point-by-point basis."
Last week it was reported that the Prime Minister established a limited forum for the management of the war, which includes ministers alongside the heads of the defense establishment.
Michael Shemesh of Kan 11 News reported that the members of the forum are ministers Yoav Gallant, Israel Katz, Yariv Levin, Ron Dermer, Bezalel Smotrich and MK Aryeh Deri, while Ben Gvir, who has been demanding for some time to join the discussions in the limited forum, is completely excluded from it.
The ministers participating in the forum hear reviews from the Chief of Staff and the heads of the defense establishment. The reviews deal with the management of the war on all fronts, the report said.
The Prime Minister's Office denied this report as well.