Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday fired Defense Minister Yoav Gallad – with whom he had deep disagreements over the venue of the war in the Gaza Strip – and replaced him with Israel’s former foreign minister, Israel Katz, known as the nickname “bulldozer”, who promised to defeat the “enemies” of the country.

Already a member of the Israeli government’s security council, Mr. Katz “combines responsibility and the ability to solve problems with calmness, which are necessary to lead this campaign,” the Israeli prime minister said.

The unexpected development for many was recorded in the midst of waiting for the result of the presidential elections in the US, the main ally at the international level of Israel, which is engaged in a war on two fronts, against the Palestinian faction Hamas in the Gaza Strip and against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

THE Gallant called for agreement ceasefire to secure the release of hostages still held in the Gaza Strip after the unprecedented attack by Hamas on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, while the Netanyahu has a declared goal of annihilation of the Palestinian Islamist movement.

“In the midst of war, trust is more than ever a necessary condition between the prime minister and the defense minister,” but “in recent months, that trust has eroded,” Netanyahu said in a letter to Gallad.

“There were major differences (…) regarding the conduct of the (military) campaign, accompanied by statements and actions that were against the decisions of the government and the cabinet,” he added.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog warned against any “unrest” in the year-old war-torn country and appealed for “responsibility”. “The last thing the state of Israel needs right now is turmoil and rupture in the midst of war,” he said via X.

Mr Netanyahu “did well” to oust Yoav Gallad, far-right Homeland Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir commented.

Why now?

According to political analyst Aviv Bushinsky, a former director of Netanyahu’s office, Mr. Gallant’s ouster was nothing more than “matter of time». But “maybe Netanyahu feared a Democratic victory” in the US, which would make it “more complicated” to make that decision.

Mr. Netanyahu probably feels more comfortable because of his “improving popularity in the polls” and “he also took advantage of the fact that people’s attention was elsewhere” in the US election, according to Jonathan Reinhold, director of the political studies department at Bar Ilan University.

The US reaction

Gallant was “an important partner on all matters relating to the defense of Israel” for the US, a State Department spokesman said.

“We will continue to work with Israel’s next defense minister,” he added.

The hardline Gallant and the mass reactions in Israel to his ouster

Although Gallant was seen as a figurehead in the war on the Gaza Strip that has now spread to Lebanon, he had angered ultra-Orthodox parties, key allies of the prime minister, by ordering the conscription of 10,000 men from that religious community, which benefits from an exemption from tenure by virtue of a rule established when the State of Israel was created in 1948.

In 2018, the question of their conscription had caused a political crisis, leading to the calling of early elections.

“Israel must secure the return of the hostages ‘as soon as possible’ and ‘as long as they are still alive,’ even if it comes at the price of ‘painful compromise,'” Gallant said yesterday after his ouster.

“Our moral duty is to bring back (…) those kidnapped by Hamas. We must do it as quickly as possible and while they are still alive,” he said in a televised speech.

“It is possible to bring back the hostages, but this will involve painful compromises,” he added.

Mass protests in Israel

Thousands of people gathered in Tel Aviv in the evening to demonstrate against the dismissal of Defense Minister Yoav Gallad and to demand that his successor Israel Katz prioritize a deal on the return of the hostages.

Mr. Gallant was “the only normal person in the government,” commented Samuel Miller, a 54-year-old teacher, accusing the Netanyahu government of opening “new fronts” and waging “unjustified wars.” The prime minister “does nothing to preserve peace for us, for the Palestinians and for all the other countries in the region,” he added.

The Families Forum, the main collective of relatives of hostages still held in the Gaza Strip, expressed “deep concern” over the sacking of Defense Minister Gallad, calling on his successor to “prioritise” a deal to free their own .

Of the 251 people abducted on October 7, 2023, 97 remain hostages in the Gaza Strip, but 34 of the latter have been declared dead by the Israeli army.