NETANYAHU SHOULD HAVE FIRED GALLANT LONG BEFORE NOW

Netanyahu fires Gallant, foreign minister Israel Katz to be appointed in his place

"Unfortunately, over the past months, the trust between me and the minister of defense has been broken," said Netanyahu. 

 

JNS

Nov 5, 2024

 

 

 

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant meets with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Tel Aviv on Oct. 22, 2024.

 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided to fire Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, the premier’s office announced on Tuesday.

Foreign Minister Israel Katz will be appointed to Gallant’s position, while Minister-without-Portfolio Gideon Sa’ar has been offered to fill the post of Jerusalem’s top diplomat, according to Netanyahu.

“Unfortunately, over the past months, the trust between me and the minister of defense has been broken. There were significant gaps regarding the management of the [military] campaign, and these gaps were accompanied by statements and actions that contradicted the decisions of the government,” the premier said in a video statement.

“I made repeated efforts to bridge these gaps, but they only widened. These issues even reached the public in an unacceptable manner, and, worse, became known to our enemies, who took pleasure and found advantage in it,” added Netanyahu.

In a missive published by Channel 12, the premier told Gallant that his dismissal would be effective 48 hours after the delivery of the letter. “I would like to thank you for your work as defense minister,” Netanyahu wrote. A meeting between the two was said to have lasted three minutes.

The Channel 12 report noted that, as part of the move, Netanyahu and Katz are expected to launch a bid to replace Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi and other senior Israeli security officials.

Responding to his firing on X, the defense minister wrote, “The security of the State of Israel was and will always remain my life’s mission.”

 

 

Israel Katz huddles with Netanyahu in the Knesset on October 13, 2024.

 

Katz thanked Netanyahu for entrusting him with the responsibility, vowing to lead the Israeli military “towards victory against our enemies and to achieve the goals of the war: The return of all the hostages as the most important mission, the destruction of Hamas in Gaza, the defeat of Hezbollah in Lebanon, the curbing of Iranian aggression and the safe return of the residents of the north and south to their homes.”

Netanyahu and Gallant had been at odds since the 2023 judicial reform crisis. In May of last year, while Netanyahu was abroad, Gallant called a solo press conference and urged the prime minister to halt the judicial reform legislation amid massive street protests throughout Israel.

Some 24 hours later, Netanyahu announced his intention to fire Gallant. Nationwide protests against the government’s now-shelved judicial reform agenda intensified, and the premier reversed his decision.

Six months ago, Netanyahu and other members of his coalition slammed Gallant after he demanded that Jerusalem commit to Palestinian control over the Gaza Strip post-war with Hamas.

In September, after news broke that the Israel Defense Forces found the bodies of six hostages in a Hamas tunnel in southern Gaza, Gallant demanded that Netanyahu renege on a decision to keep IDF troops on the enclave’s border with Egypt, known as the Philadelphi Corridor.

Gallant apologized in a bid to stave off his dismissal, Maariv reported later that month, citing conversations among the premier’s associates.

The majority of Likud Party voters lost faith in Gallant and wanted to see him fired, according to a JNS/Direct Polls survey carried out in July.

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir praised Tuesday’s move, writing on X, “I congratulate the prime minister on the decision to fire Gallant. With Gallant, who is still deeply trapped in the [pre-Oct. 7, 2023, security] concept, it is not possible to achieve absolute victory—and the prime minister did well to remove him from his position.”

Meanwhile, opposition leader Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid Party) called the firing an “act of madness,” urging his supporters to take to the streets.

Following the announcement of Gallant’s dismissal, protesters blocked Tel Aviv’s Ayalon Highway while lighting bonfires. At the same time, police erected barriers in front of Netanyahu’s Jerusalem residence.

“Israel Police officers are deployed in large forces at the protest hotspots throughout the country with the purpose of maintaining security and public order, as well as to enable a balance between the freedom to legitimately protest and the freedom of movement,” police stated.

“We call on the protesting public to obey instructions of police officers at the scene and to behave in a way that will not endanger the safety of the protestors, the police officers and road users,” the statement urged.