Shira Rubin and Lior Soroka
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday dismissed Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, one of the most vocal and prominent critics of his war strategy and the country’s primary interlocutor with the Biden administration on military matters amid a widening conflict in the Middle East.
“In the midst of war, full trust between the prime minister and the defense minister is needed more than ever,” Netanyahu said in a video posted to X. “In recent months, this trust has eroded.”
Netanyahu said he decided to end Gallant’s tenure on Tuesday, and that he would be replaced by Foreign Minister Israel Katz, a close ally with little military experience. He added that Gideon Saar, a former Netanyahu disciple, would replace Katz as foreign minister.
The surprise late-night announcement, released as Washington and much of the rest of the world was preoccupied with the U.S. presidential election, sent immediate shock waves across Israel. Thousands of protesters turned out in Tel Aviv, and prominent members of the security establishment condemned the move as an effort by Netanyahu to ensure his political survival at a time of growing national peril — with the country engaged in grinding wars in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon and, increasingly, in direct conflict with Iran.
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