Netanyahu appoints ally Israel Katz to replace Gallant

6/11/2024 6:08

        Israeli Prime Minister
        Benjamin Netanyahu fired defence minister Yoav Gallant on
        Tuesday, saying he had no trust in him over the management of
        Israel's ongoing military operations as the wars in Gaza and
        Lebanon grind on.
        
        Netanyahu appointed Foreign Minister Israel Katz, a close
        ally, to succeed Gallant, while Gideon Saar becomes the new
        foreign minister, Netanyahu's office said in a statement.
        
        Gallant and Netanyahu, both in the right-wing Likud party,
        have clashed for months over the objectives of Israel's
        13-month-old war in Gaza against the militant group Hamas, and
        many had expected the prime minister to sack him sooner or
        later.
        
        But the timing was a surprise, and came as the United States
        was consumed by its presidential election. Gallant, who rose to
        the rank of general during a 35-year military career, had been a
        key interlocutor for Washington over the last year of conflict.
        
        The shake-up comes as Israel's campaigns in both Gaza
        and Lebanon - where it is waging an offensive against the
        Iran-backed Hezbollah - have entered new phases, following the
        killing of both groups' top commanders. Israel is also bracing
        for Iran to respond to its Oct. 26 air strikes on the Islamic
        Republic.
        
        Netanyahu said that beyond differing opinions, a "crisis
        of trust gradually opened ... and this crisis does not allow for
        the normal continuation of the management of the campaign.
        
        "In light of this, I decided today to terminate the term
        of office of the Minister of Defence," he said in a statement.
        
        Netanyahu added that he had tried to bridge the gaps but
        they "kept getting wider" and became public. "Worse than that,
        they came to the knowledge of the enemy and our enemies enjoyed
        it and derived a lot of benefit from it."
        
        Netanyahu said such gaps were accompanied by statements
        and actions that "contradict the decisions of the government and
        the decisions of the cabinet."
        
        In response, Gallant said: "The security of the state of
        Israel always was and will always remain my life's mission."
        
        For months there had been open disagreements between
        Netanyahu and Gallant, reflecting a wider split between Israel's
        right-wing governing coalition and the military, which has long
        favoured reaching a deal to end the fighting and bring home
        scores of hostages held by Hamas.
        
        Gallant said the war lacked clear direction, while Netanyahu
        reiterated that fighting could not cease until Hamas was wiped
        out as a governing entity and military force in Gaza.
        
        Last year, shortly before the Gaza conflict erupted,
        Netanyahu had dismissed Gallant due to disagreements over the
        government's plans to overhaul Israel's judicial system, but
        after mass protests the prime minister reinstated him.
        
        Itamar Ben-Gvir, a far-right minister in Netanyahu's
        coalition government, praised Tuesday's decision, saying Gallant
        was still "deeply trapped in the conception" that it "is not
        possible to achieve absolute victory".
        
        But Benny Gantz, Netanyahu's main political rival, called
        the move "politics at the expense of national security."
        
        Yair Lapid, another opposition leader, said the move "in
        the middle of the war is an act of madness", adding that
        Netanyahu was "selling out Israel's security and the soldiers of
        the IDF for his own political survival."