Netanyahu fires Defence Minister Yoav Gallant from Israeli government

'Significant gaps' had emerged with Mr Gallant over war, Israeli Prime Minister says

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has fired Defence Minister Yoav Gallant from his government, more than a year into the Israel-Gaza war, exposing tension at the heart of the country's leadership.

"Significant gaps were discovered between me and Gallant in the management of the campaign," Mr Netanyahu said in a statement on Tuesday night.

“These gaps were accompanied by statements and actions that contradict the decisions of the government and the decisions of the cabinet. In light of this, I decided today to terminate the term of office of the minister of defence."

Mr Netanyahu made “many attempts” to bridge the gaps without success, he claimed, describing a “crisis of trust” between himself and Mr Gallant. He said that most of the Israeli government – a coalition of right-wing and ultra-right wing parties – and the cabinet supported his decision to fire Mr Gallant.

Israel-Gaza war - in pictures

Smoke rises after Israeli air strikes targeted Palestine Tower in Gaza city on October 7, 2023. EPA

Palestinians take control of an Israeli Merkava battle tank after crossing the border fence with Israel from Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023. AFP

This video grab from footage released by the Israeli Hostage and Missing Families Forum campaign group on May 22 shows what the group described as Israeli female soldiers being captured by Palestinian Hamas militants during the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel. AFP

Smoke rises following an Israeli air strike in Gaza city on October 9, 2023. EPA

A rocket is launched from the coastal Gaza strip towards Israel by militants of the Ezz Al-Din Al Qassam militia, the military wing of Hamas movement, in Gaza city. EPA

Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepts rockets launched from the Gaza Strip, as seen from the city of Ashkelon, Israel, on October 9, 2023. Reuters

Lightning strikes as smoke billows following an Israeli air strike in Gaza city on October 9, 2023. AFP

An Israeli artillery unit fires at an area along the border with Gaza, southern Israel, on October 11, 2023. EPA

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish people carry their belongings before boarding a ship for US nationals and their immediate family members, as they leave Israel headed for Cyprus. Reuters

Palestinian youths take cover behind a rubbish container as they clash with Israeli forces at the northern entrance of the West Bank city of Ramallah near the Israeli settlement of Beit El on October 20, 2023. AFP

A man mourns as he attends a funeral of Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on October 24, 2023. Reuters

A man holds a child, survivors of Israeli bombardment, as they are treated at a trauma ward at Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on October 24, 2023. AFP

People search for survivors and the bodies of victims through the rubble of buildings destroyed during Israeli bombardment in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on October 26, 2023. AFP

Anti-war protesters raise their 'bloody' hands behind US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on President Biden's $106 billion national security supplemental funding request to support Israel and Ukraine, as well as bolster border security, on Capitol Hill in Washington on October 31, 2023. Reuters

Palestinians run for cover after a strike near the Al Shifa hospital in Gaza city on November 1, 2023. AFP

Palestinian children run as they flee from Israeli bombardment in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on November 6, 2023. AFP

An injured Palestinian woman covered in dust and blood hugs an injured girl child at the hospital following the Israeli bombardment of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on November 15, 2023. AFP

Hostages released by Hamas Gal, left, and Tal Almog-Goldstein, second left, stand in a bus transporting them to an army base in Ofakim in southern Israel after they were released by the Palestinian militant group from the Gaza Strip on November 26, 2023. AFP

Palestinian boys stand in their makeshift tent at a camp set up on a schoolyard in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip where most civilians have taken refuge, on December 13, 2023. AFP

Palestinians fleeing the north through the Salaheddin road in the Zeitoun district on the southern outskirts of Gaza city, walk past Israeli army tanks on November 24, 2023. AFP

In this picture taken during a media tour organised by the Israeli military on December 15, 2023, soldiers visit a tunnel that Hamas reportedly used to attack Israel through the Erez border crossing on October 7. AFP

Jewish protesters block the passage of aid trucks being sent to Gaza in Ashdod, Israel on February 1, 2024. Reuters

A man pulls water containers as he walks past destroyed buildings in Khan Younis on May 5, 2024. AFP

Relatives of Hanan Yablonka, one of the Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip since the October 7, 2023 attack by Palestinian Hamas militants, mourn during his funeral in Tel Aviv on May 26. AFP

Humanitarian aid packages land after being dropped from a plane in Al Mawasi district of Khan Younis, on May 30, 2024. Reuters

Palestinians attend Eid al-Adha prayer in Khan Younis town, southern Gaza strip, on June 16. EPA

Displaced Palestinians play football in Jabalia on July 23, 2024. AFP

Palestinians injured in an Israeli strike on a school ride on the back of a cart in Deir Al Balah on July 27, 2024. AFP

Palestinians gather to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in the northern Gaza Strip, September 11. Reuters

Palestinians survey the damage at the site of Israeli strikes on a displacement camp in Khan Younis on September 10, 2024. AFP

A medical staff member carries supplies through a destroyed section of Al Shifa hospital in Gaza city on September 17. AFP

People walk past makeshift graves in Gaza city on September 17. AFP

Differences between Mr Netanyahu's government and the defence establishment have emerged over the war strategy. Defence Ministry and military officials are widely believed to want a ceasefire deal in Gaza and Lebanon, whereas Mr Netanyahu and far-right wing members of his coalition government have pushed to continue the conflict.

The news drew swift condemnation from leading Israeli politicians. Benny Gantz, who used to sit in a war cabinet formed by Mr Netanyahu after October 7, said in a blunt message on X that the decision puts "politics at the expense of national security".

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid said the firing is "an act of madness" during the middle of a war, calling on "all Zionist patriots to take to the streets tonight in protest".

“Netanyahu fired Gallant now because once again, he's putting himself before the country,” Gershon Baskin, an Israeli former hostage negotiator, told The National.

The move comes at a crucial time in the Israel-Hamas-Hezbollah war, as Israel is under increasing pressure from its allies to allow more aid into the Gaza Strip, where conditions are dire. It is also facing increasing international criticism over the rising death tolls and destruction in Gaza and Lebanon, where Israel started a ground invasion against Hezbollah last month.

Immediately after Hamas’s October 7 attacks and Israel’s military operations in Gaza, Mr Gallant took a similar line to Mr Netanyahu on the intensity of the campaign to be conducted. He ordered a “complete siege” on the Gaza Strip, and said that, “We are fighting human animals and we are acting accordingly."

Israelis demonstrate in Tel Aviv after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sacked defence minister Yoav Gallant, citing lack of trust. Reuters

The dismissal sparked protests across Israel, including a mass demonstration that brought central Tel Aviv to a halt. Reuters

Israeli police try to push back protesters from a main road in Tel Aviv. AP

Protestors barricade a road in Tel Aviv. AFP

A person wearing a mask with the face of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gestures with handcuffs as protesters block a road in Tel Aviv. AFP

Former Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant arrives for a press conference shortly after he was sacked. Reuters

Israel's Foreign Minister Israel Katz becomes the new Defence Minister, Mr Netanyahu said. AFP

In May this year, the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor said he was seeking the issuance of an arrest warrant for Mr Gallant, alongside Mr Netanyahu and senior Hamas leaders, for alleged war crimes.

Mr Netanyahu has asked current Foreign Minister Israel Katz to take up the defence portfolio. Gideon Saar, a minister without portfolio, is to take Mr Katz's post. Israeli political observers consider Mr Katz to be loyal to Mr Netanyahu and unwilling to challenge his positions.

In recent months, Mr Gallant’s views on the war appear to have diverged from Mr Netanyahu’s. He had been pushing for Gaza to be returned to Palestinian rule without Hamas and in May publicly criticised Mr Netanyahu for refusing to deal with governance in the enclave when the war ends.

One of the main issues that led to Mr Gallant’s dismissal is Mr Netanyahu’s reluctance to make it mandatory for ultra-Orthodox Jews to serve in the Israeli military, political observers said. The community had exemptions from serving, in a status quo opposed by much of Israeli society and defence officials including Mr Gallant, who say Israel needs more men to fight in the war.

A Supreme Court decision in June opened the way for ultra-Orthodox members to be drafted. But far-right members of Mr Netanyahu’s cabinet, on whom he relies for his political survival, oppose the move.

The issue of drafting the ultra-Orthodox into the army has “reached its peak,” said Mr Gershon, who helped to arrange the release of Gilad Shalit after he was abducted in Gaza in 2006. “Gallant instructed the army to issue 7,000 draft notices to young ultra-Orthodox people who are eligible for draft. And Netanyahu wants to preserve his coalition, which is dependent upon the ultra-Orthodox, and writing a law that would exempt the ultra-Orthodox from being drafted. This is, once again, the irresponsibility of Netanyahu.”

Israeli strikes on Lebanon continue - in pictures

Documents of Hezbollah-run Al Qard Al Hassan are scattered at the site of an Israeli air strike on Sunday night in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon. AP

An excavator clears the rubble at the site of the Israeli air strike that targeted the branch. AFP

Smoke rises after an Israeli air strike on Dahieh in southern Beirut. EPA

People drive next to a building, targeted in an Israeli air strike in Beirut's southern suburbs. AFP

A displaced child outside a makeshift tent in Beirut's seaside promenade. AFP

Smoke billows over Beirut's southern suburbs near Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport after an Israeli air strike. Reuters

Children who fled Israeli bombardment in southern Lebanon, attend a drawing workshop organised by volunteers, at a shelter in Beirut. AFP

People displaced from Lebanon board a ship bound for Turkey at the port of the northern city of Tripoli. AFP

Mr Gallant is also thought to have been viewed by the US administration of President Joe Biden as a more reliable partner than Mr Netanyahu in Israel. Mr Gallant regularly held his own conversations with high-level US officials.

Reports emerged in Hebrew media in October that Mr Netanyahu blocked a planned trip by Mr Gallant to the US to discuss defence issues, amid a growing rift between Mr Biden and the Israeli leader.

The dismissal also follows a scandal that has enveloped Mr Netanyahu’s office, involving the arrest of people working for him over leaks of confidential documents to the media.

Israeli society is also increasingly angered by Mr Netanyahu’s failure to come to an agreement for a ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza, where 101 Israelis are held by Hamas. Protests broke out in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem after the announcement of Mr Gallant's firing.

A group representing hostages’ families said it expressed, “deep concern” about Mr Netanyahu's decision to dismiss Mr Gallant, and how this sudden change could affect the fate of the hostages still held in Gaza.

“We expect the incoming Defence Minister, Israel Katz, to prioritise a hostage deal and work closely with mediators and the international community to secure the immediate release of all hostages,” the group said in a statement. “Our future as a society depends on the return of all hostages and the end of this war.”

Mr Netanyahu tried to fire Mr Gallant in 2023, before the Gaza war, amid bitter protests over the Prime Minister's push to pass widespread judicial reforms that critics said would end democracy in Israel.

Mr Gallant eventually spoke out against the policy, drawing particular attention to how the mass protest movement was dividing Israeli society and undermining the country's security.

He was appointed Defence Minister in 2022, having previously served as the minister for construction, and for education.