Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu fires Defence Minister Yoav Gallant

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has fired his defence minister, Yoav Gallant, and appointed Israel Katz to succeed him.

In a surprise announcement on Tuesday, Netanyahu said he had lost confidence in Gallant over the management of Israel’s ongoing wars in Gaza and Lebanon.

“Over the past few months that trust has eroded. In light of this, I decided today to end the term of the defence minister,” the prime minister said in a statement issued by his office.

The statement added that the difference between Netanyahu and Gallant “grew wider” and was known by the public “in an unusual manner and, worse, became known to our enemies, who took pleasure in them and derived substantial benefit from them”.

Shortly afterwards, Gallant said in a post on X that working to ensure Israel’s security would “always remain the mission of my life.”

Yossi Beilin, former Israeli justice minister, told Al Jazeera that Gallant’s dismissal might be the “first step towards the dissolution of Netanyahu’s government”.

“He (Netanyahu) believes that he is not only the prime minister, but the minister in every portfolio, so that eventually it will be [solely] his decision,” Beilin explained.

‘Poor set of priorities’

Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir celebrated Gallant’s dismissal on X, and said, “it is not possible to achieve absolute victory” with him in office.

Ben-Gvir had previously called for Gallant to be removed from his post.

However, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which represents families of captives held in Gaza, condemned the move as an “effort to torpedo the hostage deal”.

“The dismissal of the Defense Minister is an unfortunate proof of the Israeli government’s poor set of priorities,” the Forum said on X in Hebrew.

It added that as “The military goals in the Gaza Strip have been achieved”, referencing the assassination of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and his predecessor Ismail Haniyeh, Israel must now obtain a “comprehensive deal for the release of all the abductees and the end of the war.”

But during the course of the year-long war on Gaza, which began on October 7 2023, following a Hamas attack on southern Israel which killed at least 1,139 people, according to an Al Jazeera tally based on Israeli statistics, Gallant and Netanyahu have been at odds.

According to Gaza’s health ministry, at least 43,391 people have been killed, and 102,347 people have been wounded due to Israel’s retaliatory attacks.

At the end of last month, Israeli news outlets reported that Gallant sent a letter to Netanyahu, senior cabinet ministers and top officials from the military, Mossad spy agency and Shin Bet security, saying that Israel’s war efforts had to be “refocused”.

“Significant developments in the war, especially Israel and Iran trading direct blows, raise the necessity of holding a discussion and updating the war’s goals with a comprehensive look”, Gallant reportedly wrote.

In response to the letter, Netanyahu’s office argued that it was “bizarre”, adding that “There is a single compass, and that is the war aims as determined by the cabinet”.

“They are examined all the time, and have even been recently expanded,” it added.

Gallant had also previously pushed back on Israeli rule over Gaza and supported a captive deal, which had put him at odds with far-right members of Netanyahu’s government.

But his decision comes 24 hours after Gallant approved the Israeli army’s recommendation to send 7,000 army draft orders to ultra-Orthodox men and as Netanyahu deals with police probes into a series of leaks from the Israeli military about its war on Gaza.

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