PM vetoes Gallant’s field hospital for Gaza kids; defense officials: He’s playing politics
Defense minister says he ordered establishment of facility because PM’s office dropped the ball on plans to send patients abroad for care, but issue now moving forward
Lazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter
A public fight broke out between Yoav Gallant and Benjamin Netanyahu Thursday over the medical treatment of Gaza children, with officials in the Defense Ministry accusing the prime minister of playing politics with lives at stake.
Gallant announced on Wednesday that a field hospital for children would be established by the IDF in Israel, near the Gaza border, due to the extended closure of Gaza’s Rafah Crossing into Egypt, which Gazans had previously used in order to travel overseas for medical treatment.
Egypt has stopped all movement through Rafah, saying it is protesting Israel’s takeover of the area as part of its offensive in southern Gaza. This has harmed the transfer of humanitarian aid into Gaza as well as the ability of humanitarian cases to depart the territory.
But Gallant’s announcement was apparently not coordinated with the prime minister. On Thursday, Netanyahu’s office announced he had sent a missive to Gallant saying he would not approve the establishment of the field hospital “and for this reason it will not be established.”
An official in the Defense Ministry told The Times of Israel: “The prime minister is keeping a hospital for injured children from being opened up for political reasons.”
They appeared to be referring to Netanyahu seeking to avoid criticism from his far-right allies, upon which his coalition is dependent.
The Prime Minister’s Office declined to respond to the defense official’s accusation.
After Netanyahu’s statement, Gallant’s office responded by saying the plan to establish a field hospital had been put forward because earlier plans to send children in dire need of treatment abroad had been held up by the Prime Minister’s Office.
It noted that Netanyahu had previously accepted the minister’s original recommendation that complex cases be sent abroad by way of Israel, but then failed to move the program forward.
Gallant claimed that he had appealed to the Prime Minister’s Office and National Security Council (NSC) two weeks ago asking for a directive to be sent to relevant ministries to cooperate on the plan.
“Despite the clear directive from the prime minister to enact the defense minister’s proposal,” Gallant’s office said, “a discussion on the topic was canceled and the NSC’s instruction was not sent.”
Gallant’s office said that because of the pressing need to take action, the defense minister had announced the establishment of a field hospital.
“Only after the defense minister’s directive to establish a field hospital did the NSC remember to respond to his request and adopt his proposal to transfer complex patients from Gaza to a third country via Israel,” Gallant’s office said.
Gallant told his US counterpart, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, about the plan for a field hospital along the Gaza border during a call earlier this week. His office said work had begun on the matter. This has now apparently been halted by the premier’s veto.
The hawkish Tikva Forum representing some hostages’ families slammed Gallant for planning to establish a hospital “for the enemy’s children.”
“This is an outrageous decision that boils our blood and abandons our children,” the forum said in a statement.
The military has coordinated the establishment of several field hospitals run by other countries inside Gaza during the war, as well as floating hospitals in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Egypt’s Sinai to treat Gazans in need.
Israel has not brought injured Gazans into its hospitals since the beginning of the war, though sick children who were admitted before October 7 remain in the country.
Netanyahu and Gallant have been at odds several times since the coalition was formed, and ministers within the government have urged the prime minister to fire him on multiple occasions.
Recently Gallant has been pressing the prime minister to reach a deal for the release of hostages held by Hamas, reportedly leading to heated arguments between the two.
In May, the defense minister publicly urged Netanyahu to rule out the possibility of Israeli military or civilian rule in Gaza, suggesting instead that “Palestinian entities” and other “international actors” should govern the Strip. Netanyahu has dismissed any discussions of the “day after” in Gaza as meaningless until Hamas is defeated.
In late March 2023, Netanyahu fired Gallant for warning that the divides in Israeli society caused by the coalition’s judicial overhaul plans posed a “clear, immediate, and tangible threat to the security of the state.” His termination was met with public outrage and he was rehired two weeks later.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
