Netanyahu fires defense minister, sparking protests

What happened

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed Defense Minister Yoav Gallant Tuesday, sidelining a popular rival as Israel fights grinding wars in Gaza and Lebanon. Gallant's firing brought thousands of Israelis into the streets in protest. Netanyahu named Foreign Minister Israel Katz, a hawkish longtime loyalist with little military or national security experience, as Gallant's replacement.

Who said what

Netanyahu said there was a "crisis of trust" between him and Gallant and "significant gaps" on handling Israel's wars. The two had clashed for years, and Netanyahu tried to fire Gallant in 2023 before backtracking amid intense public outcry. Gallant said at a news conference last night that Netanyahu disagreed with him on three big issues: conscripting ultra-Orthodox young men into the military, forming an official commission to investigate the political and security failures of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, and the urgent need to strike a deal to return Israeli hostages "as quickly as possible, when they are still alive."

What "may have sealed Gallant's fate was his announcement Monday that the army would send conscription notices to thousands of young ultra-Orthodox men," as ordered by the Supreme Court, The Washington Post said. Ultra-Orthodox parties, a key part of Netanyahu's hard-right coalition, had threatened to collapse his government if the draft notices went out."

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This is "politics at the expense of national security," Benny Gantz, a former member of Netanyahu's war cabinet, said on X. Israeli President Isaac Herzog called Gallant's dismissal "the last thing Israel needs." Opposition leader Yair Lapid called it "an act of madness."

What next?

Gallant was the "anchor" of the U.S.-Israeli relationship and the "only cabinet member apart from Netanyahu with serious decision-making authority over the war's conduct," The Wall Street Journal said. Katz is "unlikely to stand in the way" of Netanyahu's hardline Gaza and Lebanon military decisions, The New York Times said.