In a new major political shake-up in Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on Tuesday, fired the country’s defense minister over the ongoing escalating Gaza battle with Hamas. This had come after two ministers fought each other many times when handling Israel’s military fight against Hamas. “Trust between the officials has evaporated in the course of the military reaction to the terrible attack by Hamas against Israel’s civilians on October 7, 2023,” Netanyahu’s office maintained.
According to Netanyahu, the prime minister and the defense minister must present a united front, especially in times of war. At first, he said, Gallant and he had worked well together, and trust was strong, but over time, their relationship frayed, reaching the point where the public—and even Israel’s adversaries—became aware of the division between them. This public disagreement in Israeli politics could have had some influence on the conduct of the campaign, and it seems Netanyahu’s appointment of Gallant as the Defense Minister was because of a necessity to reassert consensus in handling the defense system of the country.
The position left vacant by Gallant is being filled by Foreign Minister Israel Katz whom Netanyahu appointed. The justification behind the appointment is based on Katz’s earlier role in safeguarding national security. This could make it relatively easy for him to fill the crucial gap left behind.
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Instead, Gallant went to his social media page to clarify his views about Israel’s security situation as he also stated this will always rank first for him in his life. Such a remark is actually indicative of some commitment that has been proven toward the job even with the highly opposite approach being sought from what Netanyahu anticipated.
In terms of statistics, this war has caused havoc on both sides. Israel’s response to Gaza has unfortunately killed so many civilians, with the Palestinians estimating it to reach as high as 43,391, a lot of whom are said to be civilians. For Israel, more than 1,200 were dead, mostly civilians, at the hands of Hamas through its October 7 attack.
In my view, such a move of sacking the defense minister at this point would jeopardize Israel’s operations of war. The leadership can either bring a unified way of doing things or momentarily confuse the people. As if Katz has shown competence in security matters, he comes in at a tense time.
Minutes by M31GlobalNews
