Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a shocking announcement on Tuesday night, in which he decided to sack the country’s top defense minister Yoav Gallant. This step has been taken in the context of the ongoing war in Gaza, where differences between Netanyahu and Gallant have surfaced many times. Netanyahu said that his trust in Gallant has decreased, and in this context he decided to end the defense minister’s tenure. He said in a statement issued by his office, “My trust has eroded in the last few months. In view of this, I decided to sack him today.” After this decision of Netanyahu, there was chaos in the whole country and people took to the streets in protest.
With this change, Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz will be appointed the new Defense Minister. Also, Gideon Sa’ar will replace Katz as Foreign Minister. Before Galant’s dismissal, Netanyahu had attempted to remove him in March last year, against which there were protests across the country. In the announcement on Tuesday night, Netanyahu said that “My highest duty as the Prime Minister of Israel is to ensure the security of the country. During the war, there must be complete trust between the Prime Minister and the Defense Minister.”
Galant said in a post on the social media platform X shortly after his dismissal that ensuring Israel’s security would always be his life’s mission. Netanyahu added, “In recent months, the trust between me and the defense minister has deteriorated. Serious differences have emerged between us over the management of the protection operation. I tried to resolve these differences several times, but they grew even more. It was unacceptable for these issues to become public, and this became an opportunity for our enemies to take advantage of the situation.”
