Netanyahu dismisses Defence Minister Gallant. Crowd clashes with police in front of the PM's house
Foreign Minister Israel Katz was offered the position of Defence Minister. Opposition leader Lapida calls on citizens to take to the streets. Clashes with police around the premier's house
4' min read
4' min read
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has surprisingly removed Defence Minister Yoav Gallant from his post, appointing Foreign Minister Israel Katz in his place. Katz's post will in turn be given to Gideon Saar. "The security of the State of Israel was and will always remain my life's mission," Gallant confined himself to commenting on the X platform, noting an ouster that ends a relationship that has never been serene with his premier. The two have always brought out all their differences in more than a year of conflict in Gaza, already prompting Netanyahu to attempt the torpedoing of an internal rival at the top. In 2023, his plans had run aground on street protests, now yesterday's coup allowed him to get rid of them without going through a confrontation with opponents. "Unfortunately," Netanyahu said, "even though in the first months of the war there was trust and there was very fruitful work, in recent months this trust has cracked between me and the defence minister.
After the news broke, clashes between police and protesters erupted outside Netanyahu's residence in Jerusalem, where thousands gathered spontaneously after the premier fired Defence Minister Yoav Gallant. After a few hours, the police evacuated the protesters by force. Denied by the PM's office, however, were the rumours spread in recent hours that Netanyahu is also planning to dismiss the IDF Chief of Staff and the head of the Shin Bet. The prime minister spoke with the IDF chief of staff, Herzi Halevi, the head of the Shin Bet, Ronen Bar, and the director of the Mossad, David Barnea, reassuring his interlocutors and adding that he told them that he "looks forward to working together with the new defence minister".
Gallant, there will be no atonement for hostage abandonment
"Our moral and ethical commitment is the return of our sons and daughters kidnapped by Hamas. There is not and will not be any atonement for the abandonment of the hostages," Yoav Gallant said in a statement to the media this evening, after being fired as defence minister by PM Benyamin Netanyahu. "I was fired for three reasons: Israel must accept an agreement to release the hostages even while leaving Hamas in Gaza; calling for everyone to serve in the IDF and defend Israel (including the Orthodox); calling for a government investigation into 7 October," he added very moved. "It is possible to return the hostages," Gallant said, "but that implies compromises. The state of Israel can make those compromises'.
Ben Gvir: fine dismissal, he was an obstacle
The appointments of Katz and Saar will have to go through the go-ahead of the Israeli government and parliament, the Knesset, a step that does not seem destined to encounter any major obstacles in the - further - right wing of its executive. National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir welcomed Netanyahu's rift, classifying Gallant as "an obstacle to absolute victory" for Israel. "The prime minister was right to remove him from his post," he said, a finding that dovetails with the various calls for the former general's defenestration. Gallant, 65, had already come to loggerheads with Netanyahu at various stages of the conflict. In 2023, he unleashed the PM's wrath by proposing the suspension of Netanyahu's controversial justice reform, risking precisely that torpedoing that was later curbed by street protests. More recently, he opposed the bill to exempt the ultra-Orthodox from the draft, a raw nerve for Netanyahu's government and its adherents in ultra-right religious circles. The rest of the disagreements have been over the more general management of the conflict, resulting in a rift that is already sowing discontent in the country. For the families of the hostages in Israel, Gallant's dismissal represents another step in the 'efforts' to boycott and scuttle the kidnapping agreement.
The anger of hostage families and opposition
"The Defence Minister was the first to emphasise the achievement of the strategic goals and the urgent need to translate the military achievements into an actual victory in the form of the return of the abductees and the end of the war in the Strip," the Forum quoted Haaretz as saying. The group called on the new defence minister, Israel Katz, "to express publicly, clearly and decisively his commitment to the immediate release of all hostages". The opposition also strongly criticised Netanyahu's decision and called for mass mobilisation. "Take to the streets," Democrat chairman Yair Golan wrote on X after the premier's announcement. "Politics at the expense of national security," says National Unity president, Benny Gantz (video). Gallant's dismissal comes amid a new day of tensions over the Middle East conflict and the Gaza Strip in particular, with the death toll growing as the latest phase of the Israeli offensive continues. The broadcaster al-Jazeera, citing Palestinian medical sources, speaks of 54 victims since dawn on 5 November alone. Earlier, as early as yesterday morning, 70 deaths had been recorded in the previous 24 hours. Overall, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, there are 43,391 casualties in over a year of hostilities.
