Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has fired defence minister Yoav Gallant, saying there is a “crisis of trust” between them.
Netanyahu said in a statement that his trust in Gallant had “eroded” in recent months.
Foreign Minister Israel Katz will replace Gallant, Netanyahu added.
Gallant posted on social media that the “security of the state of Israel was and will always remain the mission of my life”.
In a statement, Netanyahu said: “In the midst of a war, more than ever, full trust is required between the prime minister and the minister of defence.
“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 minister of defense.”
Netanyahu said that “significant gaps were discovered between me and Gallant in the management of the campaign”.
“These gaps were accompanied by statements and actions that contradict the decisions of the government and the decisions of the cabinet,” he added.
Netanyahu said he “made many attempts to bridge these gaps, but they kept getting wider”.
Gallant only posted a short message on X, stating that the security of Israel “was and will always remain the mission of my life”.
Katz will succeed Gallant as defence minister, while Gideon Sa’ar becomes the new foreign minister, Netanyahu said.
