The News
Hours before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu congratulated Donald Trump for winning the US presidential election, he faced domestic political turmoil and protests in Tel Aviv over his dismissal of defense minister Yoav Gallant.
Netanyahu said in a video that he had lost trust in Gallant and that there were “significant gaps” in his leadership over the war in Gaza. Gallant was largely seen as a moderate voice in Netanyahu’s right-wing government and had called for a “refocus” of the war’s objectives, which Netanyahu had described as “bizarre.” Gallant will be replaced by the current foreign minister Israel Katz.
SIGNALS
Gallant dismissal consolidates power for Netanyahu
While Netanyahu’s decision to fire Gallant — condemned by Israeli opposition leaders as an “act of madness” — will help him consolidate political power, it will be “divisive” and “devastating” for Israel, the editor-in-chief of The Times of Israel, David Horovitz wrote. Netanyahu removed Gallant to accommodate the far-right members of his coalition who bitterly disagreed with the former defense minister over ultra-Orthodox conscription and a hostage deal with Hamas. Gallant’s replacement, Israel Katz, is expected to toe Netanyahu’s line on these issues. With the move, “Netanyahu has put his political survival above the most fundamental interests of the state,” Horovitz argued.
Netanyahu welcomes an unpredictable Trump presidency
Israeli leaders were among the world’s first to congratulate Donald Trump on winning the US election, and Netanyahu’s right-wing government welcomed his victory as if it “had just won the election itself,” The New York Times wrote. Trump’s win is also a “dramatic win” for Netanyahu, and could reshape the map of the Middle East, The Guardian’s world affairs editor wrote, because it “removes a substantial barrier to Israel’s full control and potential annexation of at least part of Gaza and the West Bank.” Some in Israel’s far-right annexationist wing hailed Trump’s victory as a “historical moment…for the settlement movement.” But one Israeli expert told the Times that even though Netanyahu prefers Trump’s unpredictability over Kamala Harris, “Trump can easily turn on us in seconds.”