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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.
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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."
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.”
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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.
