Netanyahu Dismisses Defence Minister

On the day of the US Presidential election, Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, dismissed his Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, saying in a video message:

“My highest commitment as Prime Minister is to ensure Israel`s security and lead us to complete victory …
During wartime, the trust between a prime minister and a defence minister must be absolute.
While we had that trust and worked productively together in the early months of this campaign,
that relationship has deteriorated significantly in recent months.”

Responding with his own video message, Yoav Gallant said,

“My priorities have always remained constant and clear:
the State of Israel, the IDF, and the security establishment.”

He went on to claim that a moral darkness has fallen on Israel due to Benjamin Netanyahu’s attempts to exempt Haredi men from service in the Israel Defence Forces, as well as his unwillingness to accept another hostage deal and form a National Commission of Inquiry into the failures that led to the 7th October Massacre.

An important factor that may have contributed to the problems in the relationship between the two men is that the Biden administration clearly favoured Gallant. On several occasions they seemed to bypass Netanyahu completely and discuss policy directly with Gallant.

One US official is quoted as saying:

“The surprising decision to fire Defence Minister Gallant is concerning, especially in the
middle of two wars and as Israel prepares to defend against a potential attack from Iran.”

Political commentator Dr Alon Burstein reviews the reasons and implications in this short YouTube video: