Netanyahu fires defence minister Gallant, seen as brake on far-right policy

Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has fired his defence minister, Yoav Gallant, who is widely considered by the country's international allies to be a brake on the far-right elements of the country's coalition government.

- Bethan McKernan

Netanyahu said yesterday that "significant gaps on handling the battle" in Gaza had emerged.

"At the height of a war, complete trust is needed between the prime minister and the defence minister... In recent months, that trust between me and the defence minister was damaged," he added.

Israel Katz, a fellow Likud party member serving as foreign minister, will replace Gallant. Katz posted on X: "We will work together to march the security system to victory against our enemies and to achieve the goals of the war: the return of all the abductees as the most important value mission, the destruction of Hamas in Gaza, the defeat of Hezbollah in Lebanon, the containment of Iranian aggression and the return of the residents of the north and south to their homes in safety."

Within hours, thousands of protesters gathered in central Tel Aviv, pounding drums and blocking the city's main highway. About 1,000 people demonstrated outside Netanyahu's home in Jerusalem, while protests and roadblocks also sprang up in other spots across the country.

Netanyahu has been at odds with Gallant since his latest coalition government entered office at the end of 2022, when Gallant became the only senior government figure opposed to judicial reforms that critics said amounted to democratic backsliding.