From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, November 5, 2024
Opposition slams firing of Gallant: Politics at the expense of national security
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"
Members of the opposition slam Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s announcement that he has fired Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, replacing him with Foreign Minister Israel Katz.
“Take to the streets,” tweets The Democrats chairman Yair Golan, following Netanyahu’s announcement.
“I call on all heads of universities and all heads of colleges: suspend studies. I call on all the heads of the economy: stop work. I call on all the heads of the security forces: raise a cry, even now while you are in uniform. I call on all citizens of Israel: take to the streets. Netanyahu is destroying Israel and only we can save it,” Golan tweets.
Netanyahu’s decision constitutes “politics at the expense of national security,” weighs in National Unity chairman Benny Gantz, a former member of Netanyahu’s now-defunct war cabinet.
“There is no low to which this government will not sink,” adds National Unity lawmaker Orit Farkash Hacohen. “A Defense Minister who announces conscription orders for thousands of Haredim is fired in the middle of a war on the eve of an [expected Iranian] attack for the sake of the evasion law.”
