Netanyahu fires defence minister over ‘crisis of trust’

JERUSALEM/CAIRO: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired Defence Minister Yoav Gallant on Tuesday citing a “crisis of trust” and replaced him with Israel Katz, previously the foreign minister.

The prime minister named Gideon Saar as the new foreign minister, Netanyahu’s office said in a statement. 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. This comes less than 24 hours after Gallant approved the Israeli army’s recommendation to send out 7,000 more draft orders to ultra-Orthodox men.

The issue of drafting ultra-Orthodox men has been a sticking point between Gallant and Netanyahu, whose coalition is dependent on a right-wing bloc. In a post on X, immediately after news broke out of his ouster, Gallant wrote, “The security of the State of Israel was and will always remain my life’s mission.”