Netanyahu consolidates hold by sacking defence minister

Move, timed to coincide with US elections, shows his determination to continue wars

- Jonathan Eyal

As voters in the US went to the polls to elect its new president, the fear of all security specialists in the Middle East was that Iran might use the cover of the US elections to launch a new attack on Israel.

Yet the real bombshell in the Middle East was delivered not by Iran but by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who used the day when US and world attention was focused on the American ballots to mount a political coup by sacking his defence minister.

The dismissal of Mr Yoav Gallant when Israel remains embroiled in two wars and risks a fiercer regional confrontation with Iran is proof of Mr Netanyahu's determination to continue with the wars in Gaza and Lebanon.

And it also acts as a reminder that he will stop at nothing to secure his political survival.

The 65-year-old Mr Gallant, who has served as defence minister since 2022, belongs to Mr Netanyahu's hard-right Likud party. Despite his recent popularity with the government's critics, he is hardly a moderate when dealing with military affairs.

He is a highly decorated naval commando officer who rose to the rank of major-general and only narrowly missed being Israel's overall military commander.

He led controversial Israeli offensives a decade ago against Hamas in Gaza, activities which a subsequent UN investigation determined were "designed to punish, humiliate and terrorise" the civilian population of Gaza.

Immediately after Hamas led an incursion into Israel on Oct 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 Israelis and kidnapping a further 250, Mr Gallant ordered a complete siege of the Gaza Strip.

"There will be no electricity, no food, no water, no fuel," he vowed in comments that were subsequently submitted to the International Court of Justice as alleged evidence that Israel may be responsible for activities tantamount to genocide in Gaza.