Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was set to oust Defense Minister Yoav Gallant from his position, a senior political official said on Monday. Netanyahu planned to add Gideon Saar's New Hope party to the coalition adding four seats to his Knesset majority.
The move raised concern among the families of hostages currently held in Gaza because of Saar's position opposing a deal with Hamas that would see hostages freed. Stocks fell and gas prices spiked amid expectations of the government reshuffle.
The rift between Netanyahu and Gallant has widened in recent months after the defense minister opposed the prime minister's refusal to agree to a deal that would free hostages. The position of the Defense Ministry, the IDF, Shin Bet and Mossad is that Israel can deal with the security risks that would emerge from such a deal and that the release of hostages must be a priority.
The two men have not met for a long time despite Israel being at war on multiple fronts. Netanyahu's right-wing coalition partners and many in his party have demanded Gallant resign or be ousted for his position calling the prime minister a defeatist who is incapable of winning the war.
Netanyahu also blamed the military and security agencies for the failure leading up to and on October 7, claiming he was kept in the dark and could not be blamed for the catastrophe. His allies in the Likud have echoed and spread that position.
A senior member of Netanyahu's cabinet said Netanyahu and Saar were making a political deal that would enable the prime minister to pass a bill exempting Haredi men from military service. The ultra-Orthodox parties in his coalition have threatened to withhold their backing for a national budget unless a bill amenable to them, which exempts the vast majority of draft-age men from service, is passed, after past bills have expired leaving their flock vulnerable to sanctions if they do not enlist, as well as to economic measures to remove some of the funding that Haredi families receive. If a national budget does not pass, the government is automatically dissolved.
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Leaders of the three Haredi parties in the ruling coalition
(Photo: Yoav Dudkevitch, Alex Kolomoisky )
Gallant refused to back such legislation amid war while reservists were being called up time and again to fight in Gaza and in the north and enlisted troops already had months added to their compulsory service after the IDF lost many of its force that was either killed or maimed since the war began nearly a year ago.
He demanded that any such bill should have broad parliamentary success, in effect handing the ultimate power to approve it to the opposition.
Sources with knowledge of the negotiations between Netanyahu and Saar said the two have agreed in principle on the wording of a draft bill that has the approval of the ultra-Orthodox members of the coalition.
Saar denied that he was negotiating with the Haredi parties or anyone else on a draft bill. His allies said he believed any legislation must be based on the needs of the IDF and in coordination with the Defense Ministry and the security agencies.
The last time Netanyahu fired Gallant was in March 2023, after the minister came out against the legislative push to weaken the judiciary. Gallant warned at the time that pushing through the legislation amid the mass public protests was a threat to Israel's security.
Reservists serving in elite IDF units in a volunteer capacity warned that if the laws pass and Israel steps away from being a democracy, they would no longer volunteer for service.
U.S. officials are concerned over the possible Gallant ousting, claiming he is the 'only adult in the room' in Netanyahu's government after the relations between the prime minister and U.S. President Joe Biden have again soured over Netanyahu's refusal to discuss the day after the war and his criticism of the administration, despite the massive military assistance that Biden has and continues to provide Israel and the regional deployment of forces to prevent Iranian aggression.