Yoav Galand, Israel’s former defense minister, who was fired in November by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over their disagreements over how the war in the Gaza Strip is being fought, announced Wednesday that he will leave his seat in the Knesset, Israel’s parliament. .

“I will proceed with submitting my resignation to the Knesset speaker,” said Yoav Galand — who was first elected to the Israeli parliament in 2015 with the centrist Kulanu (“All of Us”) party before defecting in 2019 to his right-wing Likud of Prime Minister Netanyahu— during his televised speech.

“I served the country for 35 years in the army and for a decade in the government and Knesset. There are moments when you have to pause, re-examine the direction you’ve taken,” added the 66-year-old former naval special forces officer and head of the southern command.

Mr. Gallant was for years considered a “hawk” of the Israeli government. As defense minister, he played a central role after the unprecedented incursion by Hamas’ military arm into southern Israeli territory on October 7, 2023, triggering the war in the Gaza Strip.

But after about a year of war on several fronts, the former defense minister drew the ire of ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties, key allies in Prime Minister Netanyahu’s governing coalition, by ordering the conscription of 10,000 male members of that community who were within the prescribed age range.

In his speech, Mr. Gallant promised to “continue to work with all (his) powers to return home” the hostages who remain held in the Gaza Strip from October 7, 2023.

At the expense of Yoav Galland, as well as Mr. Netanyahu, is pending an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court in November 2024 for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip war, which is in its 454th day.