Jerusalem: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday evening that he was removing Defence Minister Yoav Gallant from his position and replacing him with Israel Katz, citing a “crisis of trust” that “gradually deepened”.
The move is a stunning shift after the Prime Minister nearly made a similar move in September but made an about-turn.
In a terse letter released by the Prime Minister’s office, Netanyahu tells Gallant that “your tenure will end 48 hours from the receipt of this letter”.
“I would like to thank you for your service as Defence Minister,” he concludes.
Gallant will be replaced by Foreign Minister Israel Katz. Minister without Portfolio Gideon Sa’ar will replace Katz as Foreign Minister.
“Unfortunately, although in the first months of the war, there was trust and there was very fruitful work, during the last months this trust cracked between me and the Defence Minister,” said Netanyahu in a video statement.
He said that they disagreed on the management of the war and that Gallant made decisions and statements that contract Cabinet decisions. Netanyahu also accused Gallant of indirectly aiding Israel’s enemies.
“I made many attempts to bridge these gaps, but they kept getting wider,” he said. “They also came to the knowledge of the public in an unacceptable way, and worse than that, they came to the knowledge of the enemy — our enemies enjoyed it and derived a lot of benefit from it.” Netanyahu added that most members of the government agree with him. The decision comes amid stress in Netanyahu’s coalition over the draft of ultra-Orthodox leaders.
Gallant on Monday approved the drafting of 7,000 more Haredim into the Israeli Defense Forces IDF. (IANS)
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