Report: US sent message that Gallant shouldn’t be fired, aircraft carriers can’t stay indefinitely

Washington has sent a message to Israel that they “oppose the [potential] firing of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant,” and said that they are “satisfied with the cooperation” with him, Channel 13 news reports.

The outlet says the message was “polite, but clear.”

Additionally, with regards to a potential wider all-out regional war and Iranian attack, a message was sent that tensions need to be reduced at some stage because “the [US] aircraft carriers will not be able to stay in the area forever.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Gallant have a tense relationship that has at times led to slanging matches in cabinet meetings and via press statements.

Netanyahu reportedly wanted to can Gallant when he returned from his visit to the United States earlier this year, but the planned dismissal was paused after Hezbollah’s deadly attack on Majdal Shams and the killing of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and top Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut.

Netanyahu fired Gallant in March 2023, after the defense minister warned about the danger to national security of rifts that he said were extending into the military over the government’s judicial overhaul plans. Amid public protests, Gallant was reinstated two weeks later.

Some members of the government have called on Netanyahu to fire Gallant again, criticizing his conduct in the ongoing war.