Israel erupts after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sacks defence minister Yoav Gallant: ‘Act of madness’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has fired Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, citing a “crisis of trust”, and replaced him with close ally Israel Katz to lead the country’s war in Gaza and Lebanon.

Netanyahu’s critics accused him of putting politics ahead of national security at a time when Israel is bracing for Iranian retaliation to its October 26 airstrikes on the Islamic Republic.

The move sparked protests across the country, including a mass gathering that paralysed central Tel Aviv and another in front of Netanyahu’s private residence in Jerusalem.

Netanyahu and Gallant have repeatedly been at odds throughout the war in the Gaza Strip but the PM had avoided dismissing his rival. The PM’s office cited this cap between the pair over the management of Israel’s wars in the statement announcing Gallant’s dismissal late on Tuesday.

“In the midst of a war, more than ever, full trust is required between the prime minister and defence minister,” Netanyahu’s office said.

“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 defense minister.”

They said that a “crisis of trust” had developed between the pair which did not allow for normal management of the war, Reuters reports.

Netanu named Gideon Saar as the new foreign minister in place of Katz, who took to X to accept his new position “with a sense of mission and holy fear for the security of the State of Israel and its citizens”.

Gallant responds: “Israel’s security has been and remains the mission of my life, and I am committed to it.”

Gallant first took to X to react to the news of his firing, before he made a speech detailing the circumstances around his dismissal.

In the speech, published by the Times of Israel, Gallant said he was informed just a few minutes before 8pm, local time in Israel, that the prime minister had dismissed him. The news broke through the media around the same time.

Gallant said his dismissal stemmed from “disagreements on three main issues”: mandatory conscription, the release of Israeli hostages from Gaza, and his calls for an inquiry into the October 7 attacks and the following war.

“When it comes to the national level — political, security and military — there is a name for uncovering the truth and learning from it: a state commission of inquiry,” he said.

“I have said and I repeat, I am responsible for the security establishment over the past two years — for the successes and the failures. Only sunlight and a truthful investigation will allow us to learn and build our strength to face future challenges.”

In recent months, Gallant has renewed efforts to enforce conscription for the Ultra-Orthodox community of Israel. His speech reiterated his “firm stance” that every Israeli of conscription age “must serve” in the Israeli Defence Force (IDF).

“We must not allow a discriminatory and corrupt law to pass in the Knesset (Israel’s House of Representatives) that would exempt tens of thousands of citizens from bearing this burden. The time for change has come,” he said.

“The coming years will present us with complex challenges; wars are not over, and the sound of battle has not ceased. We must face these future challenges head-on and prepare.

“Under these circumstances, there is no choice — everyone must serve in the IDF and participate in the mission to defend the State of Israel.”

On the issue of hostages, Gallant reiterated his belief in bringing captives home alive and quickly — “I state that this is achievable but involves painful compromises that Israel can bear, and the IDF can deal with.”

He said he was “proud of the security establishment’s achievements” over his years as minister, adding: “I trust the commanders and the soldiers”.

“Israel’s security has been and remains the mission of my life, and I am committed to it,” he said, choking back tears.

“Since October 7, I have focused on one and only one issue: victory in the war.”

He said Israel faced “many more years by the sword” but insisted he would not allow harm to come to the IDF or Israel’s security organisations, commanders, and soldiers.

“Citizens of Israel, I will continue to uphold my priorities and the principles I have outlined,” he said.

“Throughout my years in the IDF ... I learned that in conditions of darkness and fog, one must navigate by the compass. In our situation, when the fog of war is thick and moral darkness surrounds us, I cling to the compass.

“My hope is that, in addition to the security establishment, which has always followed this path, our elected officials will also adopt it. It is the right thing to do both practically and morally.”

He finished by saluting Israel’s soldiers — alive, wounded, and fallen — and captives and their families.

“I trust you and salute you.”

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid took to X after the speech, writing the closing salute would be “engraved in the memory of every Israeli”.

“This is how an officer and fighter who was deposed only because he refused to prefer Netanyahu’s wretched politics over the good of the fighters and the lives of the abductees,” he wrote.

In a previous post, Lapid wrote “firing Gallant in the middle of a war is an act of madness” by Netanyahu for “disgraceful political survival”.

The White House, Pentagon respond to the dismissal

In Washington, a spokesperson for the White House National Security Council said Gallant had been an “important partner” and it would continue working collaboratively with Katz.

A US official told the Times of Israel that the Biden administration was caught off guard by the announcement, and accused Netanyahu of trying to avoid “blowback” from the US by timing Gallant’s dismissal for the day of the US election, when outgoing President Joe Biden’s attention was elsewhere.

The newspaper reports that Mr Biden officials saw Gallant as a “voice of reason” inside the right-wing Israeli government.

On a previous occasion when Netanyahu fired Gallant, in March 2023, the White House expressed its “deep concern” about the decision, which sparked mass protests and forced the ‘Bibi’ to backtrack.

The Pentagon has also released a statement about Gallant, calling him a “trusted partner” and insisted America’s commitment to Israel’s security was “iron clad”.

Protests erupt across Israel, rally at Netanyahu’s residence

Protests erupted across Israel in the hours after Gallant’s dismissal, including a mass gathering that paralysed central Tel Aviv as demonstrators lit bonfires and erected makeshift roadblocks on the Ayalon Highway.

Meanwhile, several thousand more people rallied outside Netanyahu’s home in Jerusalem, prompting police to station barriers and water cannons at the site, the Times of Israel reports. Some protesters have been captured clashing with police at the location.

Israeli TV stations showed images of police scuffling with demonstrators. According to Reuters, protesters chanted that Netanyahu was a traitor who had not done enough to free hostages from Gaza.

One protester told Reuters they believe Gallant “is actually the only normal person in the government”. Meanwhile, an Israeli group campaigning for the release of hostages in Gaza also expressed “deep concern” over the sacking and urged Katz to “prioritise” a deal to free the captives.

Why did Netanyahu fire Gallant?

Gallant and Netanyahu, both in the right-wing Likud party, have clashed for months over the objectives of Israel’s 13-month-old war in Gaza against Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Netanyahu said Gallant has made statements that “contradict the decisions of the government and the decisions of the cabinet”.

In response, Gallant said: “The security of the state of Israel always was and will always remain my life’s mission.”

Reports appeared in September that Netanyahu, under pressure from far-right coalition partners, was considering firing Gallant.

Gayil Talshir, a specialist in Israeli politics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, believed the last straw for Netanyahu came this week when Gallant issued 7000 draft notices for ultra-Orthodox Haredi men, angering those in the government who oppose conscription.

Itamar Ben-Gvir, a minister in Netanyahu’s coalition government, praised Tuesday’s decision, saying Gallant was “deeply trapped in the conception” that it “is not possible to achieve absolute victory”.

Gallant rose to the rank of general during a 35-year military career.

With AP