From the Liveblog of
Sunday, September 1, 2024
Ministers attack Gallant over call to walk back Philadelphi Corridor decision
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s ministerial colleagues castigated him during today’s cabinet meeting, Hebrew media outlets report.
The members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet were reportedly angered by his recommendation, posted to social media platform X, that the security cabinet convene and walk back its recent decision that any potential ceasefire and hostage release deal must include an Israeli military presence along the Philadelphi Corridor on the Gaza-Egypt border.
“The security cabinet must convene immediately and reverse the decision made on Thursday,” Gallant wrote, adding that it was “too late for the hostages who were murdered in cold blood, [but] the hostages who remain in Hamas captivity must be returned home.”
Gallant and the security chiefs have repeatedly urged Netanyahu to compromise more in the negotiations, particularly regarding the Philadelphi Corridor, fearing that the premier’s hardline positions were scuttling a deal.
In a Thursday night security cabinet meeting, eight ministers voted in favor of Netanyahu’s position, while only Gallant voted against it, representing the security apparatus’s position.
“Hamas should pay a heavy price instead of [making] concessions,” Foreign Minister Israel Katz stated during Sunday’s cabinet meeting, according to national broadcaster Kan.
“If we give in to Hamas’s demand as Galant wants, we have lost the war,” adds Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
“What will this do to the negotiations?” asked Justice Minister Yariv Levin. “You don’t need much imagination. How can we conduct ourselves if everyone tweets their opinions from the cabinet? When [the cabinet] makes a decision, [the ministers] show solidarity and stand behind it. It is clear to all of us that the murder of the hostages requires a sharp response.”
Gallant responded: “We will not live up to the war goals we set for ourselves… The decision made Thursday was reached under the assumption that there is time, but if we want live hostages, there’s no time.”
He added: “We endangered soldiers for decades for single individuals. How are we to treat the lives of 30? It’s moral bankruptcy.”
Earlier on Sunday, Smotrich assailed Gallant for his call to reverse the Thursday vote, declaring that “the cabinet will not allow a surrender deal that would abandon Israel’s security.”
Members of Netanyahu’s cabinet have repeatedly criticized Gallant and called for his ouster. Netanyahu announced he was firing Gallant in March 2023 for speaking out against the government’s judicial overhaul effort on security grounds. He rescinded the defense minister’s dismissal under intense public pressure.
