JERUSALEM – In a surprise move, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Tuesday evening, and will replace him with current Foreign Minister Israel Katz.
In a video statement, Netanyahu claimed the trust between them had been eroded. Indeed, Netanyahu seemed poised to oust Gallant in September, to be replaced as is the case now with Katz, and with the prime minister’s former protege Gideon Saar returning to a government role as defense minister.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s complete statement about the firing of Gallant:
My highest obligation as Prime Minister of Israel is to maintain Israel’s security and bring us to a complete victory.
More than ever, in the midst of a war, full trust is required between… pic.twitter.com/q8c6c3h8Qx
— Raylan Givens (@JewishWarrior13) November 5, 2024
Gallant, who has not sat for any interviews since the war started posted a simple message on his X account, merely saying: “The security of the State of Israel always was and always will remain [his] life’s mission.”
Netanyahu fired Gallant in March 2023, primarily on the back of the latter’s warning about the damage the judicial reform process was having on the country as a whole, and the IDF and security establishment in particular.
The prime minister was forced to climb down from this position after hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets – as they have begun to do again in the wake of this ousting – and amid threats of widespread industrial strikes.
While Netanyahu’s political allies welcomed the move – opposition leaders, as well as religious leaders, journalists, and commentators slammed Gallant’s ouster, particularly with Israel’s well-known seven-front war against Iran and its proxies – and a potentially imminent Iranian ballistic missile strike.
