Bennett claims Netanyahu attacking him in media briefings

A day after announcing he would wanted to bury the hatchet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Education Minister Naftali Bennett on Tuesday claimed the prime minister was briefing members of the press against him.

“It saddens me that the prime minister has not ended his marathon attacks against me in these briefings,” the Jewish Home leader told the Knesset Channel, according to the national-religious news website Srugim.

Bennett, who publicly fought with Netanyahu over his alleged mishandling of the 2014 war with Gaza, added: “As two members of the same government, we must act collegially towards each other. I will carry on with my business, I think that these attacks are not right, but I do not intend to attack him back.”

On Monday, Bennett told Channel 2 he wanted to fix his previously prickly relationship Netanyahu. He vowed to work with the prime minister and let the state comptroller have the final word on any government missteps during the 2014 conflict.

Bennett has in recent months lambasted Netanyahu for the way in which he managed the 50-day conflict with the Hamas terror group, in particular his poor communication with the security cabinet, and the security establishment’s failure to anticipate the threat of tunnel threat from the Gaza Strip.

Bennett has also slammed Netanyahu for refusing to learn from past mistakes in the run-up to the Gaza war.

Last month, State Comptroller Yosef Shapira reportedly warned Netanyahu that he will recommend a commission of inquiry into the government’s handling of the war, should the prime minister refuse to make public a report on the conflict.

The report is expected to be published in the coming months, according to reports in the Hebrew media.

Leaks of the report’s contents earlier this year accused Netanyahu, Ya’alon, and then-IDF chief Benny Gantz of covering up information regarding the threat posed by Hamas ahead of the war.

According to media sources who reviewed the 70-page document in May, Shapira accused Netanyahu and Ya’alon of failing to provide the security cabinet with real-time updates regarding the imminent threat of war with Hamas and the capabilities of the terror group’s cross-border attack tunnels.

The prime minister and the defense minister were also said to conceal warnings from the Shin Bet security agency, which raised the potential for war with Hamas in early July 2014, according to Channel 10. The conflict, known in Israel as Operation Protective Edge, began on July 8, 2014.

Members of the security cabinet were only apprised of the Shin Bet warning once the operation was underway, the report said.