Gallant meets with US envoy amid reported row with Netanyahu
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has met with White House Middle East envoy Brett McGurk in Israel to discuss the war on Gaza.
His office said in a statement that the two discussed progress on the ceasefire agreement, “with an emphasis on the security measures required to prevent weapons smuggling into Gaza”.
It said the two discussed delivery of “critical munition, some of which will be sent to Israel in the coming days”. Gallant’s office characterised the meeting as a follow-up to the one in Washington, DC, in late June.
This comes as Israeli media are reporting that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is deliberating removing Gallant from his government amid disagreements on issues including enlisting ultra-Orthodox Jews for military service.
Opposition leader calls for condemnation after rabbi’s fiery op-ed
Prominent Jewish rabbis say yeshiva students must refuse to turn up for military service as the contentious issue continues to threaten the Israeli government.
Rabbi Dov Lando made the call in a front-page commentary for the Yated Ne’eman daily, which is affiliated with the United Torah Judaism, a key coalition partner of Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu.
He said Israel’s judicial system has “declared war against the Torah world”, in reference to the ruling by the High Court that the government must immediately start drafting ultra-Orthodox students into the military.
Lando’s statement for students to refuse draft orders follows similar calls by a group of senior Sephardi rabbis on Wednesday.
Yair Lapid, Israel’s main opposition leader, said in a post on X the government must “condemn in explicit words” Lando’s demands or else it will have neglected Israeli soldiers and military values.
