A Painful, Measured and Timely Dismissal

"Unfortunately, over the past months, the trust between me and the minister of defence has been broken." 

"There were significant gaps regarding the management of the [military] campaign,and these gaps were accompanied by statements and actions that contradicted the decisions of the government."

"I made repeated efforts to bridge these gaps, but they only widened."

"These issues even reached the public in an unacceptable manner, and, worse, became known to our enemies, who took pleasure and found advantage in it."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

A photo from October last year; Netanyahu, Gallant during a press conference   Reuters

That explanation for the shocking dismissal of Israel's minister of defence is more than adequate reason that Mr. Netanyahu's decision, albeit difficult, was necessary. The elected principal authority responsible for the welfare and security of the country should not and cannot be abused by anyone regardless of their conviction that their solution to unprecedented and dangerously existential events have greater resonance with the goal of safeguarding the country and its citizens. Collaboration and cooperative efforts to find workable solutions take place during decisive cabinet meetings, not in the heat of the battlefield or during times of stressful and unwarranted decision-making in contradiction to the plans of the leader of the nation.

A breakdown in trust is a sorrowful admission that collegial political collaborative reliability has been broken. No country can possibly achieve its primary goals of maintaining its legitimacy and security in the face of ongoing multiple threats of violence when its primary officials fail to agree on strategies meant to address threats against its very existence. Defence Minister Yoav Gallant may swear that his first and foremost interest is in safeguarding the country, but unity in government is required, to that end.

A replacement has been named, in Foreign Minister Israel Katz, who has the confidence of the Prime Minister, while a replacement for his position, Gideon Sa'ar, currently Minister-without Portfolio  is prepared to take on the post of top diplomat. Loyalty as well as preparedness and situational familiarity and experience are all necessary attributes in support of a government embattled not only by hostile exterior forces, but aggravated internal forces as well.

Mr. Netanyahu had informed Gallant his firing would have 48 hours before the move came into effect through a letter of dismissal, which concluded with the obligatory courtesy of commendation despite the tense and stressful circumstances: "I would like to thank you for your work as defence minister". A face-to-face meeting over the issues involved was said to have taken no more than three minutes before it concluded.

It seems that a total clean sweep of the top echelon of the military, alongside that of the defence minister was in the cards, perhaps not surprisingly. Together Messrs. Netanyahu and Katz have revealed their intention to replace Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi along with other senior Israeli security officials. The defence minister responded to his firing by writing: "The security of the State of Israel was and will always remain my life's mission." But evidently not in tandem with the ruling government.

Prime Minister Netanyahu, along with other coalition members had condemned Gallant six months earlier for having demanded that Jerusalem commit to Palestinian control over the Gaza Strip once the conflict with Hamas was resolved. Following the Israel Defense Forces' discovery of the bodies of six hostages in a Hamas tunnel in southern Gaza,  Gallant demanded the Prime Minister turn away from his vow to maintain IDF troops on the Philadelphi Corridor, as a measure to prevent a reoccurrence of October 7.

In a belated bid to stave off his dismissal,Yoav Gallant apologized. But it represented that classic dilemma of 'too little, too late', at a time when the majority of Likud Party members had lost faith in Defence Minister Gallant, urging that he be fired from his vital position, according to a JNS/Direct Polls survey taken back in July.

"In the midst of a war, more than ever, full trust is required between the prime minister and defense minister"

"Unfortunately, although in the first months of the campaign there was such trust and there was very fruitful work, during the last months this trust cracked between me and the defense minister."

Prime Minister Netanyahu