Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has fired defence minister Yoav Gallant, saying there is a “crisis of trust” between them.
Netanyahu said in a statement his trust in Gallant had “eroded” in recent months and Foreign Minister Israel Katz would replace Gallant.
Gallant posted on social media that the “security of the state of Israel was and will always remain the mission of my life”.
The sacking has already prompted protests on the streets of Tel Aviv and political opposition leaders have called for wider public demonstrations.
Netanyahu and Gallant have long had a divisive working relationship. Prior to the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023, Netanyahu in March that year had fired Gallant over political differences before reinstating him following major public outcry.
Since Israel began its military offensive against Hamas in Gaza, Gallant has been a key senior figure of the campaign.
But on Tuesday Netanyahu said in a statement: “In the midst of a war, more than ever, full trust is required between the prime minister and the minister of defence.
“Unfortunately, although in the first months of the campaign there was such trust and there was very fruitful work, during the last months this trust cracked between me and the minister of defence.”
Netanyahu said that “significant gaps were discovered between me and Gallant in the management of the campaign”.
“These gaps were accompanied by statements and actions that contradict the decisions of the government and the decisions of the cabinet,” he added.
Following his firing, Gallant only posted a short message on X, stating that the security of Israel “was and will always remain the mission of my life”.
Katz will succeed Gallant as defence minister, while Gideon Sa’ar – who previously held no cabinet portfolio- becomes the new foreign minister, Netanyahu said.
Gallant’s removal will come into effect in 48 hours. The appointment of the new ministers requires the approval of the government and then the Knesset.
Netanyahu first fired Gallant in March 2023 following their disagreement over controversial plans to overhaul the justice system.
But he was forced to retract the sacking following massive public protests in several cities in Israel – an event that became known as “Gallant Night.”
In May this year, Gallant voiced open frustration at the government’s failure to address the question of a post-war plan for Gaza. Gallant wanted Netanyahu to declare publicly that Israel has no plans to take over civilian and military rule in Gaza.
It was a rare public sign of divisions within Israel’s war cabinet over the direction of the military campaign.
“Since October, I have been raising this issue consistently in the cabinet,” Gallant said, “and have received no response”.
Netanyahu responded by saying that he was “not ready to exchange Hamastan for Fatahstan,” in reference to rival Palestinian groups Hamas and Fatah.
Responding to Gallant’s removal on Tuesday night, members of Israel’s political opposition parties called for protests from the public.
A group representing the families of people taken hostage by Hamas in its 7 October attack also condemned Netanyhu’s dismissal of Gallant, calling it a continuation of efforts to “torpedo” a release deal.
They called on the incoming minister Katz to “express an explicit commitment to the end of the war and to carry out a comprehensive deal for the immediate return of all the abductees”.
