PM said to establish new forum for war management, Smotrich invited to join but Ben Gvir left out in the cold

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has established a new forum to deal with matters pertaining to war management, the Kan public broadcaster reports, three months after the war cabinet was disbanded.

The forum will receive security briefings from IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi and the heads of Israel’s defense establishments regarding developments on all fronts, the report states.

According to Kan, the limited forum is made up of Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Justice Minister Yariv Levin, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, Foreign Minister Israel Katz, MK Aryeh Deri and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.

Notably absent, the report states, is National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who has repeatedly voiced his desire to be among those making the decisions in the war.

Speaking to Kan, a source close to Netanyahu alleges that Smotrich was invited to join the forum because the premier “trusts him not to leak the proceedings, and to try and convince him to support the deal to release the hostages.”

Netanyahu’s Likud party previously accused Ben Gvir of leaking “state secrets and private conversations,” and Netanyahu has been reported to deeply distrust the ultranationalist minister.