Netanyahu fires Israeli Defense Minister Gallant over “lack of mutual trust”

The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared that he is firing Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. The reason is "lack of mutual trust".

The Times of Israel writes about it.

He will be replaced by Foreign Minister Israel Katz. The Minister without portfolio Gedeon Saar will replace Katz as foreign minister.

"Unfortunately, while there was trust in the first months of the war and there was very fruitful work, in the last months the trust between me and the minister of defense has cracked," Netanyahu said.

He added that they differed on the conduct of the war, and that Gallant was making decisions and making statements that conflicted with the decisions of the government.

"I made many attempts to overcome these differences, but they became wider and wider. They also became known to the public in an unacceptable way, and what is much worse, they became known to the enemies — our enemies enjoyed it and benefited greatly from it," the Israeli prime minister said.

The Jerusalem Post notes that Gallantʼs dismissal will take effect in 48 hours. The appointment of Katz and Saar requires the approval of the government and then the Knesset.

What preceded

The relationship between Netanyahu and Gallant deteriorated after the outbreak of war on October 7, 2023. Gallant publicly accused Netanyahu of being politically motivated in his decisions, and Netanyahu accused Gallant of trying to bring down the government from within.

Netanyahu threatened to fire Gallant back in March 2023, when the minister publicly criticized the governmentʼs judicial reforms, saying they threatened national security. Hundreds of thousands of Israelis took to the streets to protest the release, and the decision was never passed.

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