Amid the ongoing conflict with Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu fires Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for "lack of trust."

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant was fired by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who attributed the decline in trust to Israel's continuing battle against Hamas in Gaza. Following repeated disputes between Netanyahu and Gallant on the military strategy in reaction to the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel last year, this decision was made. Netanyahu underlined the need of having "full trust" with the defense minister, particularly during times of conflict, and pointed out that this trust had been solid at first but had declined in recent months.

Foreign Minister Israel Katz has been appointed as the new defense minister. Netanyahu praised Katz’s capabilities, citing his experience and contributions to national security.

Netanyahu stated in a statement released by his office that "complete trust between the prime minister and the defense minister is required more than ever in the midst of a war." "Even though there was a lot of trust and extremely productive work in the early months of the campaign, that trust has eroded over the past few months," he continued.
What did Netanyahu say?
According to a Prime Minister's Office statement cited by the Times of Israel, Netanyahu told Gallant that his term as defense minister will expire "48 hours from the receipt of this letter." According to the Times of Israel, the brief letter ended, "I would like to thank you for your service as defense minister."

According to the Times of Israel, Netanyahu said in a video statement, "Unfortunately, although in the first months of the war there was trust and very fruitful work, during the last months this trust cracked between me and the defense minister."

He claims that they had different opinions on how to run the war and that Gallant's words and deeds went against cabinet rulings. Additionally, Netanyahu charged Gallant with subtly supporting Israel's adversaries, quoting him in the Times of Israel as saying, "I made many attempts to bridge these gaps, but they kept getting wider."

Additionally, they were discovered by the public in an inappropriate manner, and worse, our adversaries learned about it and took pleasure in it a lot of benefit from it,” Times of Israel quoted Netanyahu.