Netanyahu said to bar Gallant from holding discussions on hostages with Mossad head

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been preventing Defense Minister Yoav Gallant from holding meetings to discuss efforts to secure the release of the hostages remaining in Gaza when Mossad chief David Barnea is present, Channel 12 reports.

Citing government sources, the report says Netanyahu cannot prevent Gallant from meeting with senior military and security officials, but has barred him from including Barnea when the prime minister is not part of the discussion.

On at least two occasions, Gallant has invited Barnea to attend meetings and received messages from Netanyahu’s office that the premier disapproved, according to the report.

Gallant’s office did not respond to the report.

The Prime Minister’s Office said in response that there were no such limitations on Gallant or Barnea.

But, says the PMO, the war cabinet is the only body that “outlines policy and decides on the matter of the hostages and those missing’ and there “is no exception.”

Barnea was heavily involved in the temporary truce agreement brokered by Qatar last month that saw the release of 105 civilian hostages, mostly Israeli women and children, as well as Thai nationals and one Filipino national.