Benjamin Netanyahu finally made his decision at the most unexpected moment, when an election day began in the United States whose result should be decisive for his country. On Tuesday afternoon, November 5, the Israeli Prime Minister announced the dismissal of his Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant. The latter, in increasingly open opposition to Netanyahu on the way to conduct the war in Gaza, but also on other crucial issues, ended up embodying a form of internal contradiction, and intolerable, for the Prime Minister, although both men belong to the same party, Likud. The decision, which immediately sparked demonstrations in several places in Israel, puts an end to long months of tension between the two men. It comes as Israel is still involved in a war that, from Gaza to Lebanon, involves the military on several fronts, and as Iran has threatened to engage in a new sequence of missile attacks on Israeli territory.
To explain his decision, the Israeli Prime Minister stated in a statement that he held talks with Yoav Gallant “Major disputes over how to conduct the military campaign”. “In the midst of war, trust between the Prime Minister and his Minister of Defense is needed more than ever”but, “In recent months, this trust has been eroded”Netanyahu had written a few hours earlier in a letter addressed to Gallant.
In fact, tensions between the two men had come to a head over the summer. Yoav Gallant, with the support of the military hierarchy, but also with the agreement of the heads of the intelligence services, has estimated, since the beginning of 2023, that the army should end ground operations in Gaza and that it is urgent to conclude a agreement with Hamas to end the war and obtain the release of the Israeli hostages still alive (only 51 of the 101 held in the enclave would remain, according to the government). Benyamin Netanyahu, for his part, continues to hold a contrary opinion, which is also that of the far-right ministers of his government coalition. The latter have threatened to leave if a peace agreement is reached in Gaza, which would lead to new elections, a prospect that Netanyahu rejects for fear of losing power.
Disagreement over Haredi recruitment
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