Yoav Galant: Netanyahu dismisses the Defense Minister and appoints Israel Katz as his successor, and the American administration is “shocked” by the decision

The Israeli Broadcasting Authority, quoting a security official, said that Netanyahu chose politics over security, while Israeli Channel 12 said that Netanyahu met with Gallant and handed him the dismissal letter, in a session that lasted only three minutes.

The broadcaster explained that the US administration was “shocked” by the decision to dismiss Gallant.

A White House spokesman said, according to Reuters, that Gallant was an “important partner” of the United States in all matters related to Israel’s security, explaining that the American administration would continue to work “as close partners with the next Israeli Minister of Defense.”

Hours ago, Gallant had issued new recruitment orders for seven thousand ultra-Orthodox Jews, as the need for reserve soldiers increased after a year of war between Israel and Gaza.

In his first speech after his dismissal, Yoav Gallant stressed the necessity of working to return the hostages from the Gaza Strip “while they are alive.”

Gallant added in a video speech: “Our commitment is to return the hostages. We must do this quickly, while they are alive,” calling on “everyone to serve in the army,” referring to the religious Jews who were exempt from compulsory service.

The dismissed Defense Minister began military service in the frogman unit in the Israeli Navy, becoming one of the most prominent commanders in the Israeli army.

Gallant was appointed commander of a battalion in the Gaza Strip in 1997 for two years, and served as commander of the Southern Front in Ariel Sharon’s government following his implementation of the unilateral withdrawal plan from Gaza.

Gallant led Operation Hot Winter against the Gaza Strip in 2008.

This is not the first time that Yoav Gallant has been dismissed from Netanyahu’s government.

Last year, Benjamin Netanyahu’s government proposed a draft judicial amendments in Israel, which was explicitly opposed by Defense Minister Yoav Galant, which led to a clash between the two politicians.

Netanyahu’s plans gave the government full control over the committee that appoints the judges and included eventually stripping the Supreme Court of crucial powers to overturn legislation it deems unconstitutional.

Gallant called on Netanyahu to stop judicial amendments amid the largest demonstrations Israel has ever witnessed in protest against these plans.

This prompted Netanyahu to dismiss Gallant, but he retracted the decision about a month later due to pressure from demonstrators, and Netanyahu temporarily halted judicial amendments at that time.

At the beginning of this year, the Supreme Court in Israel annulled the judicial amendments.

Gallant demands a clear declaration from Netanyahu regarding the future of the war in Gaza, and asks to discuss an alternative to Hamas in the Strip, which the Israeli Prime Minister rejects before “militarily eliminating the Palestinian movement.”

Gallant criticizes the delay in agreeing on the future of Gaza after the war that has been going on for more than a year. Gallant rejects a military occupation of the Gaza Strip, considering that it poses a threat to Israel’s security, in addition to the high financial, military and political cost that Israel cannot bear.

However, Netanyahu said that there was “no point” in talking about the day after the war in Gaza as long as the Hamas movement was in place, reiterating his commitment to seeking a military victory, because otherwise would mean “military, political and national defeat,” according to what the Israeli newspaper Maariv previously reported.

Netanyahu said he was not ready to “replace Hamastan with Fatehistan,” referring to the Palestinian Authority in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

The Israeli Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, demanded the dismissal of Gallant in order to achieve the goals of the war, accusing him of failing on October 7 and continuing to fail until now. The Minister of Finance, Bezal Smoterich, also demanded that the Prime Minister issue an immediate decision to prevent any role in the war. The Palestinian Authority has the right to administer the Gaza Strip, and Gallant can choose between implementing the government’s policy or resigning.

Last August, Israeli media unanimously agreed that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was “preparing the ground for the dismissal of Defense Minister Yoav Galant in the short term,” and indicated at the time that Minister Gideon Sa’ar, leader of the “Official Right” party, was the most prominent candidate to succeed Galant.

The Israeli media explained at the time that Netanyahu was seeking to dismiss Gallant for “obstructing the expansion of the attack on southern Lebanon,” while Maariv newspaper considered that Netanyahu was planning to explain the process of replacing Gallant by claiming that he was “not an offensive defense minister” enough.

In recent months, Israeli media reported that Netanyahu informed his circle that expanding the government “will contribute to concluding an exchange deal with the Hamas movement.”

Sa’ar – a politician who belongs to the right-wing Likud Party and a member of the Knesset – held ministerial portfolios such as Interior and Education in Netanyahu’s governments.

He resigned from the position of Minister of the Interior in 2014, and in 2019 he was elected as a member of the Knesset after running on the Likud list.

Sa’ar had suspended his political activity in 2014 after his marriage to Israeli TV presenter Gula Evin, to devote his time to taking care of his children from his first marriage and the children of his new wife.

Previously, Sa’ar announced his strong opposition to the unilateral Israeli withdrawal from Gaza in 2005, and he also opposes the idea of ​​establishing a Palestinian state.

Last fall, he called for the party’s primary elections to be held shortly after the general elections to choose an alternative leader to Netanyahu, who has led Likud continuously since 2005, after working as a lawyer, journalist, and assistant to the state attorney general in 1997-1998, and served as Cabinet secretary in the past few months. The last few days of Netanyahu’s first government in 1999.

The new Israeli Defense Minister, Yisrael Katz, pledged to defeat “the enemies and achieve the goals of the war” in his first statement following his appointment.

Katz said on the

Katz was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs of Israel, succeeding Eli Cohen, who became Minister of Energy instead of the former.

This ministerial reshuffle, which was arranged in advance, came more than two months after the outbreak of war in Gaza in October 2023.

Katz rejects any calm with the Lebanese Hezbollah before achieving “victory,” after a previous proposal for a 21-day ceasefire.

“There will be no ceasefire in the north. We will continue to fight against the Hezbollah terrorist organization with all our strength until victory and the safe return of the people of the north to their homes,” Katz said.

Immediately after the announcement of Gallant’s dismissal, the hostage families’ association said that the move “is a continuation of Netanyahu’s efforts to thwart efforts to return the kidnapped people.”

While hundreds of Israelis demonstrated in Tel Aviv, protesting the dismissal of the Minister of Defense, where the demonstrators chanted slogans against the government and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to Agence France-Presse.

The Israeli police imposed traffic closures around Netanyahu’s residence in Jerusalem after announcing Gallant’s dismissal.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog warned of “political turmoil” after the dismissal of Defense Minister Yoav Galant.

Herzog said in a statement, “The last thing the State of Israel needs right now is chaos and division in the midst of war,” noting that “the role of leadership is to act with great responsibility at this time.”

For his part, Israeli Minister of Internal Security Itamar Ben Gvir praised the decision to dismiss Gallant, and said in reference to Gallant: “Complete victory cannot be achieved with him.”

Opposition leader Yair Lapid also called on all Israeli citizens to take to the streets tonight, and called on the families of Israeli hostages to demonstrate in rejection of his dismissal.