Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Sunday night, during his press conference in which he announced the expansion of the campaign for the fourth dose of the COVID vaccine, responded to a question regarding the meeting in which Defense Minister Benny Gantz hosted Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas at his home in Rosh HaAyin.
"I gave permission for this - the defense minister is responsible for providing security in Judea and Samaria, such a meeting is legitimate. The boundaries were clear - the issues are security and economic but not really diplomatic," Bennett said.
He stressed, "I have no intention of meeting Abbas."
In addition, a Channel 14 reporter quoted a statement Bennett had made in the past regarding responses to rocket attacks in Gaza, and claimed that Israel’s response on Saturday night to the rocket fire on central Israel was “weak”.
The Prime Minister replied, "The response against Hamas, maybe you understand a little more about this issue, I do not know. The response against Hamas, compared to what it was in the past, is completely different. We respond in a manner that was not done in the past even when a single balloon is fired."