Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sacks Defence Minister Yoav Gallant

Israel‘s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has sacked his Defence Minister over a breakdown in trust during the Gaza war against Hamas, his office said today.

‘Over the past few months that trust has eroded. In light of this, I decided today to end the term of the defence minister,’ the PM said in a statement issued by his office.

Yoav Gallant, who only returned to the post in April after being sacked last March, will be replaced by Foreign Minister Israel Katz, the office reported.

Netanyahu posted on social media after issuing the pithy statement, writing on Twitter/X: ‘We must all stand strong against refusal.’

Gallant broke his silence to say: ‘The security of the state of Israel always was and will always remain my life mission’.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Oct 31

Netanyahu said in his video statement that in spite ‘fruitful work’ with Gallant at the beginning of the war in Gaza, trust had ‘cracked’ in recent months.

‘I made many attempts to bridge these gaps, but they kept getting wider,’ he continued.

‘They also came to the knowledge of the public in an unacceptable way, and worse than that, they came to the knowledge of the enemy — our enemies enjoyed it and derived a lot of benefit from it.’

Minister without Portfolio Gideon Sa’ar will replace Katz as Foreign Minister. 

Gallant had voiced concerns that divisions within society were hurting morale in the military and empowering Israel’s adversaries.

‘I see how the source of our strength is being eroded,’ he said last Saturday.

The decision to oust Gallant came amid controversy over the decision to draft 7,000 more ultra-orthodox Haredi Jews into the military.

Netanyahu insisted that most politicians agree with him, opposing the conscription order.

But National Unity lawmaker Orit Farkash Hacohen said of the decision to sack Gallant: ‘There is no low to which this government will not sink. 

‘A Defense Minister who announces conscription orders for thousands of Haredim is fired in the middle of a war on the eve of an [expected Iranian] attack for the sake of the evasion law.’ 

National Unity chair Benny Gantz, formerly of Netanyahu’s war cabinet, posted: ‘Politics at the expense of national security.’

Gantz announced he was resigning his post over frustrations surrounding Netanyahu’s handling of the war in June.