JNS
Yoav Gallant has turned into a political nemesis for the prime minister, but circumstances may keep the pair working together to fight Israel’s enemies.
Recent Israeli media reports indicated that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would fire his defense minister, Yoav Gallant, over key political disagreements following Netanyahu’s address to a joint session of Congress and meeting with President Joe Biden in Washington two weeks ago.
However, major developments in the ongoing "Swords of Iron" War intervened, bringing Israel to the edge of an expanded regional conflict with Hezbollah in Lebanon, and potentially into direct conflict with Iran.
Twelve Druze children were murdered in a Hezbollah rocket attack on the town of Majdal Shams on July 27, while Netanyahu was still in the U.S. capital. Following the attack, Israel assassinated Hezbollah’s No. 2 commander Fuad Shukr in an airstrike in Beirut.
The day after the targeted killing of Shukr, Israel, according to foreign reports, carried out a daring assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, while he was visiting Tehran. Possible retaliation from both Iran and Hezbollah has been looming ever since. Any possibility of Gallant’s dismissal was pushed aside—for now.
Amir Ettinger, senior political correspondent for the Israel Hayom newspaper, told JNS that while Israel’s top two ministers have political differences, on key security issues they remain in lockstep:
“The working relationship between Gallant and Netanyahu can be described as ‘murky,’ but you need to separate things. In terms of the security situation, the two speak, meet, there is no disconnection between them.”
But following the Majdal Shams attack, Gallant said that he and the security establishment were preparing a response. Netanyahu was furious, seeing the statement as infringing on his authority as prime minister.
“Politically, Netanyahu doesn’t trust Gallant,” Ettinger told JNS, particularly “when it comes to the unity of the coalition.”
This atmosphere of mistrust began during the pre-Oct. 7 judicial reform crisis. In May 2023, while Netanyahu was abroad, Gallant convened a solo press conference and called on the prime minister to halt the judicial reform legislation, amid massive street protests throughout Israel.
Some 24 hours later, Netanyahu announced that he would fire Gallant. The protests against the reform immediately intensified and the prime minister quickly reversed his decision.
Debate inside Likud
Their relationship has deteriorated since then. However, members of Knesset from Netanyahu’s ruling Likud Party (of which Gallant is a member) are not in agreement about the wisdom of replacing Gallant during the war.
MK Amit Halevi suggests that Gallant should be dismissed, not only over political differences with Netanyahu, but for his performance as defense minister.
“The mandate of the defense minister is very simple: to protect the citizens of Israel, and to win the war,” Halevi told JNS. So far, Halevi believes Gallant has not taken the steps necessary to achieve what Netanyahu has referred to as “total victory.”
Halevi said that he has suggested Gallant make key changes at the top of the military establishment, by “shaking up the IDF General Staff and the generals, and presenting a completely different operational plan.”
Gallant has stood by the IDF leadership, despite the Oct. 7 massacre occurring on their watch.
In particular, Halevi is worried over reports that Gallant would support an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza's border with Egypt, an area that has been proven as a smuggling channel for terrorists and weapons.
“If it is true that the minister of defense backs the scandalous position that allows the possibility to leave the Philadelphia Corridor and rely on sensors to monitor it, this is moral bankruptcy,” Halevi said.
MK Shalom Danino, on the other hand warned against exacerbating a public feud between Netanyahu and Gallant and risking renewed domestic protests.
“Where there are small fires, don’t start big fires,” Danino told JNS. “I recommend that Netanyahu leave Gallant alone. I think Gallant presents legitimate positions; he presents the army’s positions within the government; he fulfills the Cabinet’s instructions; and things get done.”
Whether Netanyahu will fire Gallant in the end remains an open question. The prime minister likely fears another wave of massive protests if the defense minister is removed.
Reports have surfaced that if Netanyahu were to fire Gallant, he might replace him with MK Gideon Sa’ar, leader of the New Hope Party and a former member of the Likud Party who previously served as justice minister, interior minister and education minister.
Adding Sa’ar would bring an additional party in Netanyahu’s coalition, strengthening its legitimacy both within the country and abroad.
However, Ettinger told JNS, “Netanyahu is still afraid of the public’s reaction and the reaction of the Biden administration, particularly while in the middle of a war,” adding that he did not believe Gallant’s firing was imminent.
Ettinger says it is likely that the pair will need to continue working together even if their relationship deteriorates further. Still, the option of dismissing Gallant continues to remain on the table. It remains to be seen whether Netanyahu will replace his defense minister if and when tensions in Gaza and with Iran and its proxies cool down.
Danino, meanwhile, hopes the two men can put their differences aside for the greater good of the country. “I would like to see Netanyahu and Gallant appear united because it radiates power,” he said.
Amichai Stein is the diplomatic correspondent for Kan 11, IPBC.
