Netanyahu sacks defence minister Yoav Gallant

Prime minister tried to get rid of Gallant in 2023 but was forced into reversing his decision after thousands took to the streets in protest

For the second time in the last 18 months Benjamin Netanyahu has sacked his defence minister, Yoav Gallant — and this time it looks likely to stick.

Israel’s prime minister tried to get rid of Gallant in March 2023 but was forced into reversing his decision after thousands of Israelis took to the streets in protest.

This time, however, with Gallant often the lone voice at Cabinet table criticising the path of the government, particularly over the progress of the war in Gaza, Netanyahu took a snap decision on Tuesday evening to get rid of his troublesome opponent. He made his announcement in a pre-recorded message saying there was “a crisis of trust” between the two men.

He added: “Significant gaps were discovered between me and Gallant in the management of the campaign.” Some reports in the Israeli press say that the two had also clashed about Gallant’s attempt to oblige 7,000 strictly Orthodox men to serve in the military — and that the prime minister had also attempted to blame Gallant for the alleged leaks about the war which are now the subject of a major legal inquiry. Such leaks found their way into at least two foreign media publications, Germany’s Bild and the Jewish Chronicle in the UK — but there is little current evidence to connect Gallant with these leaks.

Netanyahu told Gallant that his role as defence minister was over 48 hours after receipt of his letter of dismissal. He will be replaced by the current foreign minister, Israel Katz, while Gideon Sa’ar will become the new foreign minister.

One member of the government applauding the firing is Itamar Ben-Gvir, the far-right national security minister, who has been urging Netanyahu to get rid of Gallant for months.

On Twitter/X, Gallant posted one bleak sentence: “The security of the state of Israel was and will always remain the mission of my life.”