ReutersWe’ve known for months that there’s no love lost between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
However, this year there were reports of standing and shouting matches between the two men over Israel’s war strategy.
Mr. Gallant has far more military experience than Mr. Netanyahu.
He began his career as a Navy SEAL in 1977, rose to the rank of rear admiral in Israel’s Southern Command, and led two wars in Gaza from 2005 to 2010.
The suspicion is that Gallant’s military superiority and respect within the military displeased his superiors.
Mr. Gallant was less hawkish than other ministers in Israel’s hardline government, the most right-wing in the country’s history. But he wasn’t a pigeon.
After Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, in the country’s biggest military humiliation in history, Gallant initially fully supported the Gaza war.
He, along with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, could be indicted on war crimes charges at the International Criminal Court. Both men rejected his claims when the ICC prosecutor requested the warrant in May.
But as defense minister in recent months, Gallant has argued that the Israeli government should prioritize a hostage release deal with Hamas and end the war in Gaza.
Prime Minister Netanyahu refused to listen, insisting that continued military pressure on Hamas was the best way to free the remaining Israelis being held.
Since the beginning of this year, Gallant had expressed concern about the lack of a post-war strategy. Once again, it fell on deaf ears.
He pushed for a comprehensive investigation into the military, political and intelligence failures that led to the October 7 attacks.
The Prime Minister has resisted, insisting that now is not the time.
Mr. Gallant was also unhappy with plans to continue allowing students from Israel’s ultra-Orthodox Jewish seminaries to be exempt from military service.
At a time when there were multiple wars, the country could not afford such luxuries, he said.
Prime Minister Netanyahu did not intervene, fearing the collapse of his coalition government, which had relied on support from ultra-Orthodox parties.
ReutersNew Defense Minister Israel Katz, who until yesterday served as Foreign Minister, is more hawkish and more in line with his boss’s thinking.
After taking office, he vowed to “achieve the goals of the war,” including “the return of all hostages as the most important moral mission, the destruction of Hamas in Gaza, (and) the defeat of Hezbollah in Lebanon.”
However, compared to Gallant, Katz has little military experience.
At a time when Israel is fighting two wars in Gaza and Lebanon, this will raise concerns at home and abroad and risks further engulfing the wider Middle East region.
The cabinet is now without its last remaining minister willing and able to confront Netanyahu, another reason why Gallant may have been shown the door.
Rumors had been going on for months that he was on the verge of being fired.
His dismissal on the day of the US election cannot be ignored.
The former defense minister has a much better relationship with President Joe Biden’s White House than Prime Minister Netanyahu, whose relationship with Prime Minister Netanyahu is frosty at best.
His dismissal is seen as another attack on the outgoing US administration.
It would not be surprising if the Israeli prime minister were more willing to listen to advice on war strategy from Donald Trump’s team.
ReutersOf course, in the merry-go-round of Israeli politics, no one would be shocked if this is not the last we hear from Mr. Gallant.
He had previously been dismissed as Minister of Defense once in March 2023.
At the time, he, like many senior and former military officials, was dissatisfied with Netanyahu’s controversial plan to overhaul the judicial system.
Following his ouster, tens of thousands of Israelis took to the streets demanding his reinstatement.
Just a few days later, Prime Minister Netanyahu was forced to withdraw and reinstated Gallant.
On Tuesday night, news of his dismissal again sparked renewed protests in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, but not on the same scale.
Gallant is affiliated with Netanyahu’s same party, Likud, and could one day challenge his leadership in future elections.
But the fact that he has been given his marching orders suggests that the prime minister feels strongly.
As was the case last year, Israel’s longest-serving leader and most Machiavellian and successful political operator is in charge.
