Netanyahu concludes meeting with IDF chief, defense minister

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has finished a situational assessment at the IDF Kirya headquarters in Tel Aviv, his office says in a statement.

Netanyahu is joined by Defense Minister Israel Katz, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, and his military secretary Maj. Gen. Roman Gofman.

The Prime Minister’s Office says that “security chiefs” were present, but Shin Bet head Ronen Bar — whom Netanyahu says he is going to dismiss this week — does not appear in footage released by the PMO.

After some media highlighting of Bar’s absence, an official in Netanyahu’s office clarifies that the Shin Bet chief was not cut out of the photos sent out from the assessment, explaining that Bar did not take part in that discussion.

“He took part — as did other security officials — in a broader discussion afterward,” says the official, “from which it was forbidden to release footage for reasons of information security.”