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Netanyahu fires Israeli defense minister amid disagreements over Gaza campaign

Updated Nov 5, 2024, 2:48pm EST
Middle East
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant.
Pool/File Photo via Reuters
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired defense minister Yoav Gallant, the PM’s office said Tuesday. Gallant will be replaced by the current foreign minister, Israel Katz, and Gideon Sa’ar will replace Katz as foreign minister.

In a video posted on X, Netanyahu said he had lost trust in Gallant, and said there were “significant gaps” in his management of the war against Hamas in Gaza.

Gallant wrote in a statement released after the announcement that “Israel’s security has always been and will always be my life’s mission.”

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The move is significant, Axios reporter Barak Ravid wrote on X after the announcement, because it is “being driven mostly by domestic political consideration.” Specifically, Ravid wrote, Netanyahu’s need to pass laws in favor of Israel’s ultra-orthodox community in order to maintain his governing coalition: “Gallant opposes the laws, while the ultra-orthodox parties in the coalition threaten to topple the government if the laws doesn’t pass in the coming days.”

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The relationship between Netanyahu and Gallant has had its ups and downs.

The Prime Minister has fired Gallant once before, in early 2023, after the two disagreed on a plan to overhaul Israel’s justice system, before re-instating him following protests across the country. Protesters have once again taken the streets following this most recent dismissal.

After the conflict in Gaza began, Gallant was vocal about reaching a hostage deal with Hamas, and pushed back against Israel’s control of Gaza, going against some of the Israeli government’s far-right members, Al Jazeera noted.

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Gallant came to be widely seen as a voice of moderation within Israel’s government, The New York Times added, and was reportedly opposed to the prime minister’s goal of “complete victory” in Gaza.

More recently, Gallant had reportedly called for a “refocus” of the war’s objectives and a “comprehensive look” at its goals — a request Netanyahu dismissed as “bizarre.”

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