Netanyahu dismisses Yoav Gallant as Israel’s defense minister

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Foreign Minister Israel Katz will move to Defense and Guideon Saar will take the reins of the diplomatic portfolio

5 (EUROPA PRESS)

The Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, announced this Tuesday the dismissal of Yoav Gallant as the country’s Minister of Defense, alluding to a “mistrust” that has been increasing over recent months and that he now considers insurmountable in a context marked by open fronts with Hamas in the Gaza Strip and with Hezbollah in Lebanon.

“Unfortunately, although in the first months of the war there was trust and very fruitful work, during the last months this trust was broken between the Minister of Defense and me,” Netanyahu said in a video published on his official online profile. social X, which points out that these “significant gaps” have led to contradictory orders between the two.

Netanyahu has acknowledged that these disagreements between him and Gallant have transcended general opinion and have even reached the ears of the “enemy”, who has taken advantage of this information to “progress” his attacks. “The crisis of confidence that broke out between the Minister of Defense and me has become a general crisis, and this crisis does not allow gradual progress in the campaign,” he said.

Thus, the Israeli president has announced that Foreign Minister Israel Katz will be in charge of succeeding Gallant as head of Defense. “He has demonstrated his capabilities and contribution to national security,” praised Netanayhu de Katz, who had previously led the portfolio of Energy, Finance, Transportation, Agriculture and had also served as Israel’s Minister of Intelligence Services.

In addition to his “experience”, Netanyahu has praised his “combination of responsibility and determination”, all qualities that he considers “very important” to lead the Defense portfolio in the middle of a war. The prime minister has stressed that he has the support of “many” of his Cabinet members, who considered it “impossible to continue” with a war in this situation.

On the other hand, Netanyahu has reported that he has invited Minister without Portfolio Gideon Saar, leader of the New Hope party, to occupy the Foreign Ministry. De Saar has also valued his “extensive experience and knowledge in the fields of politics and security”, and has been convinced that he will bring “significant strength” to the Israeli leadership.

“I am convinced that these steps will strengthen the Cabinet and the Government, turning them into bodies that will act together in harmony and cooperation for the security of the State of Israel, for the citizens of the State of Israel and for our victory,” Netanyahu stressed. .

One of the first reactions to this adjustment in the Israeli Cabinet has been precisely that of Gallant, who in his official profile on the social network “the main “mission” of his life.

On the other hand, the Minister of National Security, the ultranationalist Itamar Ben Gvir, has conveyed his congratulations to Netanyahu for having taken the step of dismissing Gallant, under whose leadership he believes that “it is not possible to achieve a complete victory.” “The prime minister did well to remove him from office,” he stressed.

Gallant’s dismissal is an issue that had been brewing for several weeks in Israeli politics due to differences with Netanyahu and that the prime minister himself has now acknowledged. Gallant has been more inclined to reach agreements with Hamas to culminate in the release of the nearly one hundred hostages it still has in custody in Gaza, while the rest of the Cabinet advocates a more belligerent position.

At the beginning of October last year, Hamas launched an offensive against Israeli territory that left almost 1,200 dead and more than 240 hostages. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) then began a bloody military campaign in the Gaza Strip that has already claimed the lives of more than 43,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children.

Since then, the parties have not reached an agreement for the exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners at the end of last year. Israeli military operations have served to rescue, in most cases, the lifeless bodies of the hostages, unleashing criticism from the relatives of those kidnapped.