Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu fires Defense Minister Yoav Gallant | Israel-Palestine conflict news

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has fired his defense minister, Yoav Gallant, and appointed Israel Katz to succeed him, sparking protests across the country.

In a surprise announcement on Tuesday, Netanyahu said he had lost confidence in Gallant over the leadership of Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon.

“Over the past few months, that trust has been eroded. In light of this, I have decided today to end the term of the Defense Secretary,” the prime minister said in a statement issued by his office.

The statement added that the differences between Netanyahu and Gallant “grew wider” and became known to the public “in an unusual way and, worse, became known to our enemies who enjoyed them and benefited significantly from them”.

Soon after, Gallant said in a post on X that working to ensure Israel’s security would “always remain my life’s mission”.

Netanyahu appointed Secretary of State Israel Katz to succeed Gallant as Secretary of Defense, while Gideon Saar became the new Secretary of State.

On X, Katz promised to “achieve the objectives of the war” and return the prisoners held in Gaza as “the most important value mission”.

Within hours of the statement, thousands of protesters gathered in Israel’s commercial hub Tel Aviv, blocking the city’s main road and lighting a bonfire, while hundreds of protesters gathered in front of Netanyahu’s residence in Jerusalem. Protesters also blocked roads in several other places across the country.

For months, there had been open disagreements between Netanyahu and Gallant, reflecting a wider rift between Israel’s right-wing ruling coalition and the military, which has long advocated for a deal to end the assault on Gaza and bring home dozens of prisoners held by Hamas.

Gallant said the war lacked clear direction, while Netanyahu reiterated that the fighting could not end until Hamas was wiped out as a governing entity and military force in Gaza.

At least 43,391 people have been killed and 102,347 injured in Israel’s attacks on Gaza since October 2023, according to Palestinian health officials.

Israel began its war on Gaza after a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which killed at least 1,139 people, according to an Al Jazeera tally based on Israeli statistics. About 250 others were seized as prisoners.

‘Poor set of priorities’

The right-wing Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, celebrated Gallant’s dismissal on X, saying “it is not possible to achieve absolute victory” with him in office.

Ben-Gvir had previously called for Gallant to be removed from his position.

In the US, the Pentagon said Gallant had been a “trusted partner” and reiterated that its support for Israel remains “ironclad” and the US will work “closely” with the new defense secretary, Katz.

Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst, Marwan Bishara, said the decision could lead to a more “consolidated” government.

“(What) shows that this government will be more consolidated is the fact that when it comes to … the ultra-orthodox parties in the coalition – the Ben-Gvirs and (far-right Finance Minister Bezalel) Smotriches in the world – they will feel you more secure now that Gallant is not in the government,” explained Bishara.

“This does not mean that he was some kind of moderate. If anything, Gallant is even more fascist, more violent than any of these religious fanatics. He is not a political fanatic,” he said.

The Forum for Hostages and Missing Families, which represents families of prisoners held in Gaza, condemned the move as an “effort to torpedo the hostage agreement”.

“The dismissal of the defense minister is an unfortunate proof of the Israeli government’s poor priorities,” said the forum on X in Hebrew.

It added that since “the military objectives in the Gaza Strip have been achieved”, referring to the assassination of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and his predecessor Ismail Haniyeh, Israel must now achieve a “comprehensive agreement for the release of all the abductees and the end of the war”.

Yossi Beilin, former Israeli justice minister, told Al Jazeera that Gallant’s dismissal could be “the first step towards the dissolution of Netanyahu’s government”.

“He (Netanyahu) believes that he is not only the prime minister, but the minister in every portfolio, so in the end it will be (only) his decision,” Beilin explained.

Second dismissal

Shortly before Israel began its assault on Gaza, Netanyahu had dismissed Gallant over disagreements over the government’s plans to overhaul Israel’s justice system, but after mass protests, the prime minister reinstated him.

During the years-long war on Gaza, Gallant and Netanyahu have remained at odds.

Last month, Israeli news media reported that Gallant had sent a letter to Netanyahu, senior cabinet ministers and top officials from the military, the Mossad spy agency and the Shin Bet security agency, saying Israel’s war effort needed to be “refocused.”

“Substantial developments in the war, particularly Israel and Iran engaging in direct strikes, raise the need to have a discussion and update the goals of the war with a comprehensive look,” Gallant reportedly wrote.

In response to the letter, Netanyahu’s office argued that it was “bizarre”, adding that “there is a single compass and that is the war goals as determined by the cabinet”.

“They are constantly under investigation and have even been expanded recently,” it added.

Gallant had also previously pushed back on discussion of plans for Israeli rule over Gaza and supported a captive deal that had put him at odds with far-right members of Netanyahu’s government.

The move also comes a day after Gallant approved the Israeli army’s recommendation to send 7,000 army draft orders to ultra-Orthodox men, and as Netanyahu deals with police investigations into a series of leaks from the Israeli military about its war on Gaza.