Israeli cabinet meeting moved to secret & secure location on short notice amid security threats from Iran

The cabinet meeting that was set to take place Monday morning was moved to a secret, secure location on short notice and only the ministers will be allowed to attend, Israeli media reported shortly before the meeting was set to begin.

Usually, cabinet meetings are held either in the Prime Minister’s Office or the Knesset in Jerusalem, or the Kirya IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv.

Some hours later, Ynet News reported that the meeting was moved to a secure building in Jerusalem’s government complex, and in fact, cabinet meetings from now on would not be held in a fixed location for security reasons.

According to various media reports, the reason for the sudden secrecy is the growing threat from Iran, which was underlined by the recent drone strike that hit Prime Minister Netanyahu’s private home, as well as attempts to harm high-ranking Israeli leaders by Iranian spy cells.

Israeli intelligence has identified increasing attempts by the Iranian regime to harm ministers and symbols of state, with the alert being raised again in the aftermath of the Israeli strikes in Iran last Saturday.

For security reasons, the number of participants was also greatly reduced, with ministers being allowed to attend only on their own, without their usual teams of advisors.

“There is no parking on the premises; please do not come armed; you will not be allowed to enter the building with a weapon; there is no waiting area in the meeting compound and therefore only invitees who have been approved to participate in the government meeting will be allowed to enter,” read the message sent to the minister shortly before the meeting, according to Ynet.

Despite the serious threats, the meeting wasn’t moved to the newly built underground government bunker, called the National Crisis Management Center, which is located in the nearby Jerusalem mountains.

The drone strike that hit Netanyahu’s private home was the last, and most dramatic, in a series of attempts to harm Israeli leaders.

Since then, Shin Bet has been drawing lessons from the attack that reportedly hit the reinforced window of Netanyahu’s sleeping room. Security experts have since scanned the home and made suggestions on how to further secure the compound.

Ynet reported that the upgrades will cost between NIS 3 and 8 million. In addition, similar upgrades will be made at the Prime Mininster’s official residence in downtown Jerusalem, which is already undergoing a costly renovation estimated at a cost of NIS 45 million so far.

Upgrading security to deal with the new threats will add another NIS 10 to 15 million, according to the report.