Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s office released a bogus statement saying he would miss Sunday’s weekly Cabinet meeting, for reasons termed “private.” After a whirlwind of rumors, he showed up 10 minutes late - after having visited the doctor for an eye problem.
The official announcement that Netanyahu would not be present for the meeting also stated that the session would be chaired by Vice Prime Minister Moshe Yaalon, as opposed to Vice Prime Minister Silvan Shalom, both of the Likud.
The government also has four Deputy Prime Ministers: Ehud Barak (Labor), Avigdor Lieberman (Israel Our Home), Eli Yishai (Shas), and Dan Meridor (Likud).
Sunday’s Cabinet meeting is expected to concentrate on the unrest in Iran, as well as the government’s apparent intention to continue Jewish construction in Judea and Samaria.
Tracking the Rumors
Army Radio correspondent Idan Kveller, who first broke the story of Netanyahu's alleged absence, attempted to ascertain the reasons. He essentially ruled out the possibilities that Netanyahu was out of the country or that he had contracted swine flu.
Suspicions about the report began to arise when government ministers told Kveller that as far as they knew, Netanyahu would simply be late. On the other hand, eyewitness reports had Netanyahu’s convoy traveling out of the capital.
The issue was finally resolved when Netanyahu arrived for the meeting, a scant ten minutes late. Though it could not be known in advance what the results of Netanyahu's doctor visit would be, the Prime Minister’s Bureau will still have to explain why it announced that he would not be present at all - and even who his replacement would be - prematurely.