Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is fed up. Following the many absences of government ministers from the cabinet meeting on Sunday and last week, Netanyahu decided to sanction ministers who do not receive permission to be absent from the weekly meeting. The list of the missing included, among others, Yoav Gallant, Miri Regev, Moshe Arbel, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Mai Golan.
"If I can come, you can too," Netanyahu shouted at the meeting. "It is unacceptable to me that ministers are absent from government meetings. If a minister cannot come to a government meeting, he should inform the government secretary."
1 View gallery
These are the government ministers who missed recent Cabinet meetings: Yoav Gallant, Miri Regev, Moshe Arbel, Itamar Ben-Gvit, May Golan
(Photos: Elad Malka, Yuval Chen, Alex Kolomoisky, Nadav Ebbs)
The prime minister instructed Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs to issue a procedure according to which ministers who cannot attend the cabinet meeting will have to request permission ahead of time.
According to the new procedure, a minister who is absent more than once per quarter without approval from the government secretary will not receive permission to fly in the following quarter. Netanyahu expressed his displeasure at the absence of ministers at all of the government's recent meetings.
Netanyahu himself has canceled government meetings several times in the past for various reasons. The move appears to be some kind of leadership exercise, to show that Netanyahu controls his government, amid reports that some of the ministers do as they please. During war-time emergency government, ministers of the National Unity party led by Benny Gantz frequently were absent from government meetings.