Tuesday’s security cabinet meeting was canceled after Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced that he would not attend if Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar was invited.

The far-right minister’s refusal to attend the meeting if Bar was present came amid a wave of coalition criticism of the security agency chief after reports of an investigation into a leak of classified information from a Shin Bet agent to journalists and a cabinet minister.

Smotrich’s office said he notified Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu he would not participate in the discussion if Bar was attending, calling him a “dangerous man” who uses Shin Bet tools for “personal needs” and to “take revenge on politicians and journalists.”

Smotrich also said that Israel is on a “slippery and dangerous slope,” charging that the actions of law enforcement agencies threaten democracy and declaring that the Shin Bet agent under investigation for leaking should be the next head of the security service.

The canceled security cabinet meeting was reportedly scheduled to discuss the ongoing military operations in the Gaza Strip as well as developments in the negotiations to free the remaining hostages from Hamas.

Reacting to the meeting’s cancellation, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said that it was “alarmed” that “sensitive security discussions are being canceled due to personal and political disputes,” calling this an “ominous sign of the government’s priorities.”

“What other discussions will be canceled due to the same conflicts?” the forum asked. “Will the fate of the hostages be decided based on petty politics?

“Show responsibility, sit in one room and come up with an agreement that will return everyone,” it added, in a direct........

© The Times of Israel