Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday fired his Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, after differences over the conduct of the war in Gaza, and replaced him with the current head of diplomacy Israel Katz.
This surprise announcement comes while awaiting the result of the presidential election in the United States, Israel’s main ally.
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“In the midst of war, trust is required more than ever between the Prime Minister and his Minister of Defense” but “in recent months, this trust has been eroded,” Mr. Netanyahu said in a letter addressed to Mr. Gallant , while Israel is fighting on two fronts, against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Mr. Netanyahu added that he “chose to appoint Minister Israel Katz” to replace Mr. Gallant, a retired general who became one of the main figures in the government.
He had established himself in Israel as a leading figure in the war that Israel has been waging since September against Hezbollah in neighboring Lebanon.
But Mr. Gallant also pleaded for a truce with Hamas in Gaza with a view to obtaining the release of the hostages kidnapped during the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023 against Israel, while the objective hammered out by Mr. Netanyahu is a annihilation of the Palestinian Islamist movement.
Since a single truce in November 2023, all diplomatic efforts towards a ceasefire in the Palestinian territory of Gaza have proven unsuccessful.
Even though he joined the same party, Likud, as the Prime Minister in 2019, Mr. Gallant entered politics in a center-right party (Kulanou), and the two men have often disagreed.
Mr. Gallant commanded Operation “Cast Lead” in the Gaza Strip at the end of 2008 and beginning of 2009, which killed 1,440 Palestinians and 13 Israelis.
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