The News
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired defense minister Yoav Gallant, the PM’s office said Tuesday. Gallant will be replaced by the current foreign minister, Israel Katz, and Gideon Sa’ar will replace Katz as foreign minister.
In a video posted on X, Netanyahu said he had lost trust in Gallant, and said there were “significant gaps” in his management of the war against Hamas in Gaza.
Gallant wrote in a statement released after the announcement that “Israel’s security has always been and will always be my life’s mission.”
The move is significant, Axios reporter Barak Ravid wrote on X after the announcement, because it is “being driven mostly by domestic political consideration.” Specifically, Ravid wrote, Netanyahu’s need to pass laws in favor of Israel’s ultra-orthodox community in order to maintain his governing coalition: “Gallant opposes the laws, while the ultra-orthodox parties in the coalition threaten to topple the government if the laws doesn’t pass in the coming days.”
