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Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu fired his popular defence minister Yoav Gallant on Tuesday, blaming a “crisis of trust” in a video message released as the world’s attention was fixed on the US election.
It’s not the first time Gallant has been fired: Netanyahu dismissed him in March 2023 for criticising the government’s plans to overhaul Israel’s courts (he swiftly un-fired him in the wake of huge public protests).
But it was unexpected given Israel is currently operating a multi-front war. Gallant, who worked closely with his US counterpart, said in a late night TV address that he was fired for three reasons: he opposes a law that would exempt ultra-Orthodox men from military service; he supports a hostage deal and he has backed the establishment of an official inquiry into the October 7 security failures.
Within hours protests broke out across Israel, including in Tel Aviv. Gallant’s replacement, Israel Katz, is a longtime Netanyahu loyalist.