Netanyahu fires Defense Minister Yoav Gallant

Photo: Debbie Hill POOL Agence France-Presse “In the midst of war, trust is more than ever required between the prime minister and his defense minister” but “in recent months, this trust has eroded,” Netanyahu said.

Cyril Julien – Agence France-Presse in Jerusalem

Published at 14:11 Updated at 16:37

• Middle East

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired his Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Tuesday after disagreements over the conduct of the war in Gaza, and replaced him with Israel Katz, who has vowed to defeat the country's “enemies.”

The surprise announcement comes ahead of the outcome of the presidential election in the United States, Israel's main ally, which is fighting on two fronts against the Palestinian Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

“In the midst of a war, trust is more than ever required between the prime minister and his defense minister,” but “in recent months, this trust has eroded,” Netanyahu said in a letter to Gallant.

“Significant differences have emerged … in the conduct of the [military] campaign, accompanied by statements and actions that contradicted the decisions of the government and the cabinet,” he added.

Mr. Netanyahu chose Foreign Minister Israel Katz, nicknamed “the bulldozer,” to replace Mr. Gallant.

Serving in the security cabinet, Mr. Katz “combines the responsibility and calm problem-solving skills that are essential to leading this campaign,” the prime minister said.

“We will work together to lead the Defense Ministry to victory against the enemy and to achieve the objectives of the war: the return of the hostages, the destruction of Hamas, the defeat of Hezbollah, the containment of Iranian aggression, and the safe return home of the people of the north and south [of Israel],” Mr. Katz assured X.

Photo: Attila Kisbenedek Agence France-Presse Israel Katz, former finance minister and current head of Israeli diplomacy, will replace Yoav Gallant.

Gideon Saar, current minister without portfolio, succeeds Mr. Katz.

Concern for hostages

Mr. Gallant had established himself as a leading figure in Israel’s war against Hezbollah in neighboring Lebanon.

But he had drawn the ire of the ultra-Orthodox parties, key allies of the prime minister’s coalition, by ordering the conscription of 10,000 men from this religious community who had previously benefited from an exemption under a rule established when Israel was created in 1948.

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In 2018, the question of their conscription created a crisis that plunged the country into several legislative elections.

Mr Netanyahu “did the right thing” to fire Yoav Gallant, said the far-right's Minister of Internal Security, Itamar Ben Gvir.

Mr. Gallant also called for a truce with Hamas in order to obtain the release of the hostages still held in Gaza since the unprecedented attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement on October 7, 2023 against Israel, while the objective hammered home by Mr. Netanyahu is the annihilation of this formation.

The Families Forum, the main association of relatives of hostages, said it was “deeply concerned” by his ouster, calling on his successor to “give priority” to an agreement for the release of the captives in Gaza.

In the evening, hundreds of demonstrators gathered in Tel Aviv to demand an agreement allowing the release of the hostages.

Of the 251 people kidnapped on October 7, 2023, 97 remain hostages in Gaza, 34 of whom have been declared dead by the army.

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“A question of time”

“The security of Israel has been and will remain my life's mission,” reacted on X Mr. Gallant.

Israel must ensure the return of the hostages “as long as they are alive,” he then declared.

According to political analyst Aviv Bushinsky, a former chief of staff to Mr Netanyahu, his dismissal was only a “matter of time.” “Perhaps Netanyahu fears a Democratic victory” in the United States, which would have made such a dismissal “more complicated.”

Mr. Netanyahu feels “reinforced by his improved poll ratings,” and “is also taking advantage of the fact that the world’s attention is elsewhere” with the American election, says Jonathan Rynhold, director of the political studies department at Bar Ilan University.

Israel vowed to destroy Hamas after its October 7 attack, which killed 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli data, including hostages killed or killed in captivity.

The Israeli offensive launched in retaliation in Gaza has killed 43,391 people, mostly civilians, according to Hamas’s health ministry, and has caused a humanitarian disaster.

On Tuesday, the Israeli army carried out new deadly strikes on the besieged Palestinian territory and in Lebanon.

Photo: Ibrahim Amro Agence France-Presse On Tuesday, the Israeli army carried out new deadly strikes on the besieged Palestinian territory in Lebanon.

At least 15 people were killed in an Israeli raid on a residential building in Barja, south of Beirut, the Health Ministry said.

Mr. Gallant had reiterated in recent weeks his goal of pushing Hezbollah fighters back from the Lebanese-Israeli border, to allow the approximately 60,000 residents of northern Israel displaced by the Lebanese movement's incessant gunfire to return home.

In support of Hamas, Hezbollah opened a front against Israel on October 8, 2023. After a year of cross-border gunfire, the situation degenerated into open warfare in September.

More than 1,990 people have been killed across Lebanon since September 23, according to an AFP tally Thursday evening based on official figures.