‘An act of madness’: Netanyahu set to oust defence minister

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to sack Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, as their long enmity boils over in a sharp difference over whether rescuing the hostages justifies security accommodations.

Netanyahu has stated that retaining the Philadelphi corridor is more important than securing the hostages’ release, a position Gallant opposes furiously.

Netanyahu is believed to be close to a deal with Gideon Saar's New Hope Party. Saar supports Netanyahu on Gaza, but will only join the government if he gets agreement on a bill exempting Haredi men from military service. If New Hope joins the coalition, it will add four seats to Netanyahu’s coalition and likely secure the survival of his government.

But the removal of a highly experienced defence minister in the midst of war on several fronts has been widely condemned. In addition to the war in Gaza, attacks from Hezbollah in the north, and operations in the West Bank, Israel this week experience a Houthi missile strike from Yemen. The attack penetrated central Israel, shattering glass in Modi’in, a city between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

US officials have expressed concern, describing Gallant as the “only adult in the room” and the move to sack him as “an act of madness”.

A top European ambassador to Israel said Gallant became the only person in the Israeli government "whose word we could trust".

Hostage families expressed alarm, stocks fell, and gas prices spiked amid expectations of the government reshuffle.

Removing Gallant is also likely to increase Israel's widespread street protests, which were so dramatic when Netanyahu tried to fire Gallant in March 2023 over judicial independence that the prime minister was forced to pause the judicial reform process and reinstate him two weeks later

Times of Israel Editor David Horovitz wrote that sacking Gallant would be “unforgivably dangerous”.

“Switching your veteran defence minister when you are still fighting Hamas in Gaza, preparing for a major offensive against Hezbollah, grappling with an escalation of terrorism in the West Bank, fighting off Houthi missile attacks, and trying to strategize on thwarting Iran’s nuclear weapons drive is beyond irresponsible. Installing a replacement with no major security experience merely elevates the recklessness.

“One barometer would be how Israel’s enemies are watching the move. Plainly, while the IDF has been striving to restore Israel’s deterrent capability after October 7’s humiliation and catastrophe, those enemies can only be encouraged by the fresh evidence of disunity and chaos at the helm of the small Jewish nation whose destruction they are delightedly contemplating.

“Within Israel, the move can only deepen division, and exacerbate the profound mistrust felt by so many Israelis about the political leadership in general and the prime minister in particular. It will undermine cohesion and confidence within the military, too — with the departure of a familiar, independently-minded ex-general, and his replacement by a politically ambitious military nobody.”

Haaretz’s Allison Kaplan Sommer noted that if Saar agrees to join the coalition, it will be a radical departure for the far-right politician who has until now stood firm against Netanyahu.

“It represents a flip-flop of gargantuan proportions that negates and betrays everything he has been perceived as in the past five years: a respected figure on the right whose relentlessly hawkish views align with the Likud, but repeatedly chose to stand strong against Netanyahu's megalomania and corruption.“

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Netanyahu set to oust his defence minister during war (Ynet)

Replacing defence minister during war is an 'act of madness,' American diplomatic source says (Jerusalem Post)

Israel's European allies fear Netanyahu’s defence chief shuffle could risk hostage talks (Haaretz)  

Netanyahu warns Yemen’s Houthis face a ‘heavy price’ as missile lands in central Israel (CNN)

Netanyahu, don’t fire Gallant again: The first was a tragedy, the second could be worse (David Horovitz, Times of Israel)

Could street protests prevent Netanyahu from firing Gallant? (Eliav Breuer, Jerusalem Post)

The Israeli politician about to make a deal with the devil – rescuing Netanyahu (Allison Kaplan Sommer, Haaretz)

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