Gallant denies that he plans to leave Likud: ‘Sorry to disappoint’

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant speaks with Israeli soldiers at a staging area not far from the Israeli-Gaza border, October 19, 2023. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant speaks with Israeli soldiers at a staging area not far from the Israeli-Gaza border, October 19, 2023. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant denies that he has any plans to leave the Likud party, defending his press conference last week over a proposed IDF draft law.

“I’m sorry to disappoint some of the people here, but my place is in Likud and I will stay in Likud,” Gallant says during a cabinet meeting, according to Hebrew media reports.

Gallant originally entered politics with ex-Likudnik Moshe Kahlon’s now-defunct Kulanu party, which he left to join Likud in 2019.

The defense minister says he made a statement last week demanding consensus on the issue of drafting Haredim into the military, because “there is no place for attacks on Israel Defense Forces soldiers, not even by politicians… remember that our soldiers are at war – this is neither the time nor the place.”

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