From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, November 5, 2024
Netanyahu fires Gallant, says no trust in defense minister at time of war
Lazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter
Citing a lack of mutual trust, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announces he is firing Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, a longtime rival within the Likud Party.
In a terse letter given to the defense minister and then released by the prime minister’s office, Netanyahu tells Gallant that “your tenure will end 48 hours from the receipt of this letter.”
“I would like to thank you for your service as defense minister,” he concludes.
Gallant will be replaced by Foreign Minister Israel Katz. Minister without Portfolio Gideon Sa’ar will replace Katz as foreign minister.
“Unfortunately, although in the first months of the war there was trust and there was very fruitful work, during the last months this trust cracked between me and the defense minister,” says Netanyahu in a video statement.
He says they disagreed on the management of the war, and charged that Gallant made statements and took actions that contradict cabinet decisions.
Netanyahu also accuses Gallant of indirectly aiding Israel’s enemies: “I made many attempts to bridge these gaps, but they kept getting wider,” he says.
“They also came to the knowledge of the public in an unacceptable way, and worse than that, they came to the knowledge of the enemy — our enemies enjoyed it and derived a lot of benefit from it.”
The “crisis of faith” with the defense minister “does not enable the proper continuation of the [military] campaign,” Netanyahu says.
Netanyahu says that most members of the government and cabinet agree with him “that this cannot continue. In light of this, I decided today to end the tenure of the defense minister.”
The decision comes amid stress in Netanyahu’s coalition over the draft of ultra-Orthodox men. Gallant yesterday approved the drafting of 7,000 more Haredim into the IDF.
Gallant has opposed legislation that would largely preserve the exemption of ultra-Orthodox males from military service — legislation demanded by the two ultra-Orthodox parties on whose support Netanyahu’s coalition depends.
It also comes as Americans head to the polls, and US attention is elsewhere.
