Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is reportedly taking all possible measures to prevent the Israeli army from recording meetings of his security and defense cabinet, according to Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

Among the measures taken by Netanyahu, he ordered that the recording system in the command center at troop headquarters be switched off as soon as the war began on Oct. 7, 2023, added the Israeli newspaper on its website in an exclusive. 

Typically, the army's recording system operates automatically to relay orders on the ground and ensure they comply with the orders made in the meetings. However, since October, the prime minister's office has taken over the task of recording and transcribing the meetings upon Netanyahu's orders. 

According to Channel 13, cited in the Haaretz article, all participants in the meetings held in the command center are required to dispose of any devices that could record the proceedings. Even Chief of Staff Herzl Halevi reportedly had his personal belongings searched for this purpose.

Once security conditions allowed, Netanyahu relocated all security cabinet meetings to his office — located within the same complex as the army's headquarters.

Reacting to this information, the prime minister’s office clarified to Haaretz that "in accordance with government regulations, all government meetings and ministerial committees are recorded by the Prime Minister's Office stenographers only. The discussions of the security cabinet are also recorded by the PMO, even if they take place at military sites."

Relations between Netanyahu and the Israeli army have always been tense, and these tensions appear to have been exacerbated by the Gaza war.

The strain between them has led to situations where the two parties have made contradictory decisions, notably in mid-June regarding a "tactical pause" in the fighting in the southern part of the Palestinian enclave.