Netanyahu allies make the case for firing Israeli defense minister
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. TEL AVIV—Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s political allies vigorously made the case for him to replace his defense minister amid bitter disagreement over the war in Gaza, a move that would deepen the divide between the leader and his security establishment and remove the government’s main advocate of a tighter relationship with the U.S. Sacking Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who has clashed publicly with Netanyahu for months, would have wide-ranging impacts on the country’s multifront war and U.S.
efforts to end it. He has been the anchor of the relationship with the U.S. and the most vocal advocate of the Biden administration’s key foreign policy goal that Israel should reach a cease-fire deal in exchange for hostages still held in Gaza.
As tension has grown between the U.S. and Netanyahu over the prime minister’s failure to reach a deal, Pentagon announcements show Gallant has spoken nearly 70 times with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin by phone and several more times in person in the 11 months of the war.
His firing would also further estrange Netanyahu from the military’s leadership, who say the prime minister’s promise of total victory over the militant group Hamas is unachievable and want a pause in Gaza for exhausted troops so they can turn their attention to the conflict with Hezbollah on the border with Lebanon. “Switching the defense minister on the eve of possibly setting out for a more intense campaign in the north that is liable to turn into a regional war—in my eyes this is security negligence," former Defense Minister Benny Gantz said Tuesday. “Human lives and the future of the nation are at stake." Relations between Netanyahu and Gallant have been poor for
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