Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu met with State Comptroller Yosef Shapira this week to present him with new information regarding the government's handling of the tunnel threat from Gaza, Channel 2 reported.
Netanyahu presented Shapira with transcripts from Cabinet meetings that show that the government held serious discussions about the threat of the terror tunnels.
This was the second meeting between the Prime Minister and the State Comptroller. Netanyahu requested this meeting after seeing a draft version of the State Comptroller report, which is expected to be released at the end of November.
Netanyahu attaches great importance to the Comptroller report, and he has held briefings for the press where he outlined his position on the issue. He noted, inter alia, that at least 13 Cabinet ministers conducted deliberations on the issue of the tunnels.
In July, Netanyahu's office released an unusual statement about the deliberations of the cabinet, the text of which read "The claim that Israel was unprepared for the tunnel threat is baseless. It has been said that before Operation Protective Edge the tunnel threat was not presented before the Cabinet, and that the Cabinet did not know about the tunnel threat. This is false."
The statement notes that "Starting from November 26, 2013, and continuing until July 3, 2014, the seriousness of the tunnel threat was discussed in nine cabinet meetings. The protocols (of the Cabinet meetings) prove this beyond any doubt."
Netanyahu's office added that, "From January 16, 2013, until July 9, 2014 (the day after Operation Protective Edge was launched) the Prime Minister convened six professional discussions regarding the tunnels. These meetings were attended by the Defense Minister, the Chief of Staff, the head of the Southern Command, the IDF Chief of Engineering and Technology, and IDF sector commanders in the field, as well as others."
"During these discussions Prime Minister Netanyahu instructed (the development of) operational and technological solutions against the tunnel threat. On July 3, 2014, before the start of the ground operation, the Prime Minister instructed the IDF to prepare to neutralize the tunnels."