Benjamin Netanyahu bets war strategy on the ‘bulldozer’ Katz, while Israel waits for Donald Trump

Benjamin Netanyahu had wanted to fire his Defense Minister Yoav Gallant – with whom he has clashed over everything from the conduct of Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon to the conscription of ultra-Orthodox Jews – for months.

On Tuesday night, with the eyes of the world trained on the US election, Israel’s prime minister finally seized his moment, replacing Gallant, a former general, with Foreign Minister Israel Katz, an ally with far less military experience called a “bulldozer” in the Israeli press for his abrasive style.

The move is likely to give the right-wing prime minister a freer hand to prosecute Israel’s wars, just as the country prepares for Donald Trump’s return to the White House. Officials see the US president-elect as an ideological ally less likely to press Israel over the humanitarian toll of its wars, although he is also likely to be less predictable than President Joe Biden.

Gallant’s firing, as the country grapples with enemies ranging from Hamas and Hezbollah to Iran, drew thousands of Israelis into the streets in protest and sparked accusations from opponents that Netanyahu was putting political considerations ahead of national interests.

But it was quickly hailed by Netanyahu’s far-right and religious allies, and diplomats said the removal of the primary voice of dissent in his government would make it easier for him to control his often contentious coalition.

“Netanyahu has turned Israeli politics into a one-man show,” said one diplomat. “He had met with opposition from Gallant on many issues . . . so he has brought in someone who will be more obedient to him, and who has less military experience, so is more likely to listen to what he is told. “

Gallant said a critical reason for his dismissal was the clash with Netanyahu over whether to end Israel’s mandatory military service exemption for ultra-Orthodox Jews, long a source of anger among secular Israelis.

Netanyahu’s coalition depends on the support of ultra-Orthodox politicians, some of whom have threatened to pull out if a way is not found to extend the exemption. But Gallant has repeatedly called for it to be scrapped, and diplomats said his removal could make it easier for Netanyahu to find a compromise that would hold his coalition together.

Gallant’s dismissal also removes the main critic in the government of how Netanyahu has conducted his wars with Hezbollah and Hamas. Gallant has pushed for Israel to make a deal to free the hostages still being held in Gaza, criticized Netanyahu for his failure to come up with a plan for the next day in the Gaza Strip and said in August that the prime minister’s promise of achieving “total victory” over Hamas was “gibberish”.

Israeli media speculated on Wednesday that Netanyahu could now seek to fire other figures in Israel’s security establishment – such as army chief of staff Herzi Halevi and Ronen Bar, the head of the Shin Bet security agency – with whom he has also been at odds. However, Netanyahu’s office rejected the reports, describing them as “incorrect” and “designed to sow discord”.

Diplomats said Katz, whose military experience was limited to a few years of service in the 1970s, was far less likely to challenge the prime minister than Gallant, who spent more than three decades in the military. After Netanyahu’s announcement, Katz – who will be replaced as foreign minister by the hawkish Gideon Sa’ar – issued a statement pledging to work to achieve the goals set by the prime minister.

“We will work together to march the security system to victory against our enemies and to achieve the goals of the war,” he wrote on X.

But if Katz’s past record is anything to go by, the 69-year-old – who entered parliament with Netanyahu’s Likud party in 1998 and previously held portfolios including intelligence, finance and transport – is likely to be more combative in interactions with his international counterparts.

During Katz’s first stint as foreign minister in 2019, he angered Poland after claiming that Poles “suck anti-Semitism with their mother’s milk”.

He continues in the same way in his second stint in the ministry. After Spain, Ireland and Norway recognized a Palestinian state earlier this year, his X account posted a series of videos that spliced ​​footage of the three countries’ national dances with footage from the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas. Katz has also used a series of bizarre photoshop images to bash Recep Tayyip Erdoğan during an ongoing feud with the Turkish president.

He has also publicly dressed down ambassadors and frequently assaulted UN Secretary General António Guterres. Last month, he ordered legal action against Emmanuel Macron after the French president banned Israeli companies from attending a maritime defense fair.

“On the assumption that Katz will bring with him the same diplomatic wisdom that led him to fight with all sorts of countries as foreign minister, we are in trouble,” Nahum Barnea, an Israeli columnist, wrote in the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper on Wednesday.

“Prosecuting war is not a job he is trained to do. The military may be able to do without a defense secretary, but what will become of the complex conversations with the US Department of Defense?”

But Trump’s return to the White House means Katz will be operating in a different environment than Gallant.

Netanyahu’s office said the prime minister had a “warm and heartfelt” call with Trump on Wednesday in which they “agreed to work together for Israel’s security . . . (and) also discussed the Iranian threat”. There was no immediate comment from The Trump campaign on the call.

Diplomats said it was hard to predict what Trump’s re-election would mean for Israel’s wars with Hamas and Hezbollah and its increasingly dangerous conflict with Iran.

But they said Trump – who has repeatedly said he wants the fighting to stop, without giving any indication of how he would achieve this – was likely to be more forceful than the Biden administration in dealing with Netanyahu government.

“We think he will be more assertive when it comes to ending the war, regardless of the terms,” ​​one diplomat said. “I don’t think the terms will be favorable for the Palestinians. But Netanyahu’s maneuvering – he will not accept that.”

Additional reporting by Neri Zilber in Tel Aviv