Netanyahu fires Israeli defence minister
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has fired Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.
Netanyahu said that there have been too many gaps between him and Gallant over the management of Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon.
Israel Katz replaces Gallant as defence minister
Netanyahu has named Foreign Minister Israel Katz as the country’s new defence minister while appointing Gideon Saar in Katz’s former position.
This comes less than 24 hours after Gallant approved the Israeli army’s recommendation to send out 7,000 more draft orders to ultra-Orthodox men. The issue of drafting ultra-Orthodox men has been a sticking point between Gallant and Netanyahu, whose coalition is dependent on a right-wing bloc.
In a post on X, immediately after news broke out of his ouster, Gallant wrote, “The security of the State of Israel was and will always remain my life’s mission.”
What Netanyahu said while dismissing Gallant
This is what Netanyahu said in the statement confirming Gallant’s dismissal:
- There is a need for complete trust between the prime minister and the defence minister.
- Today, I decided to terminate the service of Defence Minister Gallant and appoint Katz in his place.
- The crisis of trust that occurred between me and the defence minister did not make it possible to continue managing the war in this manner.
- I have assigned Gideon Saar to take over the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
- I am confident that this step will make the cabinet more harmonious.
Protests in Israel against Gallant’s dismissal
Israeli media is reporting that families of captives still held in Gaza are protesting Defence Minister Yoav Gallant’s dismissal. The report said that the dismissal was a “direct continuation of the efforts to torpedo the abductee deal”.
It added that the protesters stated that “we demand the incoming defence minister to express an explicit commitment to the end of the war and to carry out a comprehensive deal for the immediate return of all the abductees”.
Differences with Gallant ‘only grew wider’: Netanyahu
In the statement announcing Gallant’s dismissal, PM Netanyahu said he had made attempts to bridge the differences.
“But they only grew wider. These divisions even reached public knowledge in an unusual manner and, worse, became known to our enemies, who took pleasure in them and derived substantial benefit from them,” he said.
“The growing breach of trust between the defence minister and me has become public, preventing the normal continuation of our campaign management.”
Divisions between PM Netanyahu and Defence Minister Gallant have been ongoing during the course of Israel’s war on Gaza:
- In May this year, Gallant said Israel should not be involved in ruling Gaza once the fighting ends. Netanyahu responded saying he was not “prepared to exchange Hamastan for Fatahstan”.
- Gallant was also highly critical of Netanyahu’s emphasis on controlling the Gaza-Egypt border, known as the Philadelphi Corridor. He said that prioritizing its control over a ceasefire and hostage deal was a “moral disgrace.” In the cabinet, he voted against continued occupation there. “If we want the hostages alive, we don’t have time,” he said.
- Last month, Gallant cancelled a visit to the US Pentagon as Israeli media reported Netanyahu wanted first to speak with President Joe Biden and said Gallant’s trip to the US was not approved.
Netanyahu trying to take firmer control of Israeli government: Former minister
Yossi Beilin, Isreal’s former justice minister, tells Al Jazeera that Netanyahu’s firing of the defence minister tonight is “long overdue”.
“Netanyahu wanted to fire his defence minister [for a long time], he did it almost a year ago and people took to the streets and demonstrated against this … and the prime minister reneged on this, and took him back”, he said.
“I think that for Netanyahu, the whole issue of portfolios in the cabinet … is totally secondary. He is referring to the portfolios as kind of a prize for participating in his coalition.”
Beilin explained that this move, the dismissal of Gallant, is not a new precedent, but within the framework of Netayahu’s attempt to centralise his power over the government.
“He believes that he is not only the prime minister, but the minister in every portfolio, so that eventually, it will be [solely] his decision,” to hire and fire whoever he wants, he said, adding that it remains to be seen if people will take to the streets in protest of Gallant’s firing.
“Either way, it may be a first step towards the dissolution of Netanyahu’s government,” Beilin added.
Netanyahu only wants yes men in his 'coalition'. Katz is certainly one of them, nothing but genocide rhetoric from Katz. Gallant had a bit less extremist voice, not much, but enough for Netanyahu to get rid of him.
