Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dismissed defence minister Yoav Gallant over a ‘crisis of trust’ during the Gaza war against Hamas, his office said.
“In the midst of a war, more than ever, full trust between the prime minister and the defence minister is required,” Netanyahu said in a statement issued by his office on Tuesday.
“Over the past few months that trust has eroded. In light of this, I decided today to end the term of the defence minister,” the statement continued.
Netanyahu said he had made attempts to bridge the differences between him and Gallant but they had only grown wider and that divisions had “reached public knowledge in an unusual manner and, worse, became known to our enemies”.
That had prevented the “normal continuation of our campaign management”, he added.
Netanyahu has appointed foreign minister Israel Katz to succeed Gallant as defence minister, while Gideon Saar will become the new foreign minister.
Gallant said on Tuesday that working to ensure the country’s security would remain the “mission of his life” after Netanyahu’s dismissal.
“The security of the State of Israel was and will always remain the mission of my life,” Gallant said on social media platform X, minutes after Netanyahu announced Gallant’s firing.
Gallant became defence minister in 2022 and was in the role when Israel launched its more than a year-long assault on Gaza in October 2023, following the Hamas-led October 7 attack on Israel in which more than 1,200 people were killed.
Israel’s retaliatory military offensive has killed at least 43,391 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the enclave’s health ministry, figures considered reliable by the United Nations.
Divisions had been growing for months
Netanyahu and Gallant, both in the right-wing Likud party, have repeatedly been at odds throughout the war in Gaza.
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.
Shortly before the Gaza conflict erupted, Netanyahu 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.
