Reports: With primary near, Katz ditches security cabinet meeting early for Likud wedding

Netanyahu, reportedly surprised by departure, asks ‘Where is the defense minister?’; Katz says he held 10 hours of security deliberations on Thursday

Defense Minister Israel Katz left a security cabinet meeting in the middle on Thursday to attend the wedding of a Likud official’s son, surprising the prime minister, Hebrew media reported Friday.

Katz departed the discussions for the wedding of Kiryat Ata Mayor Yaakov Peretz, a veteran party official, some 10 days before Likud’s planned primaries, according to reports by Ynet, Channel 13 and Israel Hayom.

According to the reports, at one point Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked, “Where is the defense minister?” only to be told that Katz had gone.

According to Israel Hayom, after the wedding, Katz attended an engagement party for a family member of senior ultra-Orthodox Rabbi Yoshiyahu Pinto.

In response to the reports, Katz’s office says he “held a series of security deliberations for nearly 10 hours yesterday at the Defense Ministry and the Prime Minister’s Office. He does not intend to elaborate regarding the security forums in which he participates.”

According to Channel 12, Katz attended a series of other such events in recent days during security flare-ups, including a meeting with other Haredi rabbis, as well as with a group of Likud women, which were held inside ministerial offices and potentially violated laws barring the use of government assets for party politics.

It is not the first time Katz had been scrutinized in recent days for his conduct ahead of the August 17 Likud primaries. He was roundly criticized this week for announcing on air during a TV interview that he was replacing IDF Central Command chief Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth.

Appearing on the right-wing Channel 14 news late Sunday, Katz announced that Bluth would be removed from his post and replaced, denouncing the top West Bank general for contravening his policies by seeking to renew an administrative restraining order against a violent settler, and declaring that this was unacceptable.

The military quickly put out a sharp statement saying Bluth would remain in his post. Katz faced condemnation from opponents and allies, many of whom accused him of undermining the independence of the military for cheap political gains ahead of the party primaries.

Channel 13 reported that the defense minister’s initial castigation of Bluth had infuriated Netanyahu.

Katz later said that Bluth was “performing his duties well” and “has not been dismissed,” adding that “there is no disagreement” between them.