‘Reckless’, ‘toxic’, ‘moral danger’: What Netanyahu sacking his defence minister means for Israel

Published: 6 November 2024

Last updated: 7 November 2024

The news

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has fired his Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, his most trenchant opponent on the management of security and the War in Gaza.

Gallant says Netanyahu fired him because of their disagreement on three issues:

His opposition to a law that would exempt ultra-Orthodox men from military service
His support for a deal to release hostages held by Hamas and establish a ceasefire in Gaza
His call for a commission of inquiry into the security failures surrounding the Oct. 7 attacks.

The context

Gallant was a general with a long and distinguished military career. His replacement Israel Katz is a career politician with experience in foreign policy but not defence.

Netanyahu previously attempted to fire Gallant in March 2023, after Gallant warned that disagreement over proposed reforms to the Supreme Court and other civic institutions was placing Israel’s security at risk. The sacking resulted in mass protests and Netanyahu backed down on both Gallant and some of the reforms.
President Isaac Herzog betrayed deep concern. Without mentioning Netanyahu or Gallant he made a speech calling on leaders to act with great responsibility. “The last thing Israel needs right now is an upheaval and a rupture in the middle of the war. Israel’s security must be above all considerations,” he said.
Gallant was the most trusted partner in the Israeli government for the Biden administration and the US has expressed deep concern about the decision, writes Barak Ravid on Axios.

The reaction

Reaction from commentators in Israel and beyond was overwhelmingly negative. Some Israelis took to the streets, although, with Israelis exhausted by war and anxious about security, protests have yet to reach the levels they reached in 2023.

Netanyahu’s firing of Gallant mid-war is reckless, divisive and dangerous to Israel(David Horovitz, Times of Israel)

The prime minister has put his personal political survival above the most fundamental interests of the state… Netanyahu’s firing of Gallant is far more dangerous for Israel now than it was last time around. The prime minister has booted the experienced ex-general at the political helm of the military, an independent thinker dedicated to the security of Israel who sought to strengthen the army despite the potential political cost. Highly regarded by the troops, his casual ouster, and replacement by the lightweight Katz, can only undermine military competence, unity and morale, and raise new concerns in parts of the Israeli public about the oversight of the army in which they and their loved ones serve.

Netanyahu is a clear and present danger to Israel and defence chiefs face a dire dilemma(Amos Harel, Haaretz)

Tuesday was a difficult night, the gloomiest since the massacre on October 7, 2023. Thirteen months ago, Hamas gambled on a murderous surprise attack on southern Israel, in part because it saw that Israel was unprecedentedly weak internally since society had been was torn in two over Netanyahu's attempted judicial overhaul.

Now, when the war is still far from being won – despite the impressive achievements of the derided security services in recent months – Netanyahu has renewed his direct threat to democracy. And Gallant's dismissal isn't the last move he has planned.

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

The decision to oust Gallant at the height of the war raises questions about Netanyahu's fitness to continue serving. It has certainly sharpened the understanding that his personal and political survival is his top priority.

Benjamin Netanyahu firing Yoav Gallant is a staggeringly reckless decision (Michael Koplow, The Forward)

The staggering recklessness of this act should not be understated. The U.S. is working with Israel to resolve the Lebanon conflict and keep Iran from responding to Israel’s Oct. 26 strikes. Israel is also about a week away from the deadline set by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin for Israel to improve the Gaza aid process or risk a legally mandated cutoff of assistance. So at a time when U.S. assistance is most needed, and when a real blowup between the U.S. and Israel is at its highest possibility, Netanyahu fires the person at the vortex of managing both of these issues, and also the person the U.S. likes best.

And even leaving this all aside, Netanyahu decides to fire his defence minister when there is a war in Gaza and in Lebanon, and maybe an imminent war with Iran — and with the West Bank on the precipice of greater violence. It’s Election Day in America, but it’s never been clearer how badly Israel needs its own election.

A prime minister’s toxic agenda: How Netanyahu weakens Israel from within (Ben Caspit, Jerusalem Post)

Yoav Gallant appears to be just the first to go. Next on the line: the IDF Chief of Staff and the head of the Shin Bet. Netanyahu wants Israel’s security apparatus to be moulded in his image, an extension of his office, with a cadre of compliant, obedient yes-men.

His recent actions show he’s unfit to lead, a sentiment echoed by many top officials who work closely with him—I’ve heard it firsthand from several of them. Some worry that the Shin Bet and the IDF could end up like the police, filled with loyalists indebted to the person who appointed them, promoting people unqualified for high office so they remain beholden to the Prime Minister. This strategy has worked before.

Israel’s Prime Minister dismissed the Defence Minister amid an ongoing war, just as an intense strike on Iran was being prepared (or so it’s been claimed). The aim was to keep the coalition together and preserve ultra-Orthodox exemptions from military service. There was no operational reason for Gallant’s dismissal—recent months have seen significant tactical and strategic successes. The only reason for Gallant’s removal was a political manoeuvre to secure ultra-Orthodox draft exemptions.

Netanyahu is now de facto defense minister; the war is going to last longer (Ron Ben- Yishai, Ynet)

Netanyahu, as effective Minister of Defense, will be much less able than Gallant to promote the interests of the State of Israel. This is also true for the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Jordan and Egypt, which do not hide their differences of opinion and opposition to Netanyahu, and especially to the political line he leads, which opposes a Palestinian state. Gallant, on the other hand, might have promoted an alternative government to Hamas in Gaza - which is so necessary to end the war. Netanyahu will sit and wait for the Americans, the Emiratis, the Egyptians and the Jordanians to do the work for him, even if it does not advance the establishment of a Palestinian state. And even if this policy succeeds for Netanyahu - it will greatly prolong the war in Gaza and certainly will not advance the release of the abductees.