Netanyahu FIRES defence minister as fears grow over widespread protests

ISRAELI Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dramatically fired defence minister Yoav Gallant last night claiming there was a “crisis of trust” between them.

The powerful pair have clashed over the aims of Israel's 13-month war in Gaza but Netanyahu said continuing disagreements had finally forced him to act.

Netanyahu appointed Foreign Minister Israel Katz to succeed Gallant as Defence Minister, while Gideon Saar becomes the new foreign minister, Netanyahu's office said in a statement.

Gallant, 65, who is a longtime rival within the Likud Party, had presided over major successes in recent weeks including the decapitation of Hamas and Hezbollah leadership in Lebanon.

But the popular and respected defence chief will now be replaced by Foreign Minister Israel Katz as Netanyahu, 75, comes under continuing pressure to halt fighting in Gaza.

War has raged on despite pleas for a ceasefire deal to allow the release of a dwindling band of hostages left alive in Hamas’s Gaza stronghold.

The PM stepped up the Middle East conflict despite huge civilian casualties and opposed Gallant’s public opposition to a future Palestinian rule in the 25-mile coastal strip.

Netanyahu said they also disagreed on the management of the conflict, and that Gallant made decisions and statements which contradicted cabinet decisions.

Netanyahu said last night: “Unfortunately, although in the first months of the war there was trust and there was very fruitful work, during the last months this trust cracked between me and the defence minister.

“I made many attempts to bridge these gaps, but they kept getting wider.

“They also came to the knowledge of the public in an unacceptable way, and worse than that, they came to the knowledge of the enemy.

“Our enemies enjoyed it and derived a lot of benefit from it.”

Gallant posted on social media last night that the "security of the state of Israel was and will always remain the mission of my life".

The dismissal comes at a delicate time.

Israeli troops remain bogged down in Gaza, over a year after invading the territory, while Israeli ground troops are pressing ahead with a month-old ground invasion against Hezbollah militants in Lebanon.

Israel also has clashed with Iranian-backed groups in Iraq, Syria and Yemen, and is facing the possibility of another strike by Iran.

Iran has vowed to avenge an Israeli strike that came in response to an Oct. 1 Iranian missile attack, itself a reprisal for earlier Israeli attacks on Iranian-linked targets.

Israel's Channel 12 TV said that Netanyahu's decision was prompted by Gallant's decision this week to send out thousands of draft notices to young ultra-Orthodox men.

Under a longstanding and controversial arrangement, religious men are exempt from military service, which is compulsory for most Jews.

This system has bred widespread resentment among the secular majority, and Israel's Supreme Court has ordered the government to scrap the system.

Netanyahu, whose governing coalition depends on ultra-Orthodox parties, has not yet implemented the order.

Channel 13 TV said Netanyahu had also taken advantage of the US election, when American attention is focused elsewhere, to dismiss his rival.

Gallant, a former general who has gained public respect with a gruff, no-nonsense personality, said in a statement: "The security of the state of Israel always was, and will always remain, my lifes mission."

Gallant has worn a simple, black buttoned shirt throughout the war in a sign of sorrow over the October 7 attack and developed a strong relationship with his US counterpart, Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin.

A previous attempt by Netanyahu to fire Gallant in March 2023 sparked widespread street protests against Netanyahu.

He also flirted with the idea of dismissing Gallant over the summer but held off until Tuesday's announcement.

Katz, his replacement, currently serves as foreign minister and is a longtime Netanyahu loyalist and veteran Cabinet minister.

Katz, 69, was a junior officer in the military decades ago and has little military experience, though he has been a key member of Netanyahu's Security Cabinet over the years. Gideon Saar, a former Netanyahu rival who rejoined the government in September, will take the foreign affairs post.

Netanyahu has a long history of neutralising his rivals. In his statement, he claimed he had made many attempts to bridge the gaps with Gallant.

But they kept getting wider.

They also came to the knowledge of the public in an unacceptable way, and worse than that, they came to the knowledge of the enemy - our enemies enjoyed it and derived a lot of benefit from it, he said.

The move comes after Israeli special forces claimed they raided a Hezbollah terror compound packed with missiles, rocket launchers, and explosives.

In a statement, the IDF said: "Hezbollah intended to use this compound to plan and execute an infilitration into Israeli territory and attacks on IDF troops.

"Within the compound, the soldiers located underground infrastructure and hideouts equipped with logistical and medical supplies for prolonged stays, military tents, and pits stocked with weapons.

"The troops also located and destroyed rocket launchers, high-powered explosives ready to be activated, anti-tank missiles, mortar shells, AK-47 rifles, surface-to-air missiles, and a launcher concealed in a mountain on a several-meter track aimed directly at civilian communities in northern Israel."

Israel is invading Lebanon as it claims it is seeking to remove Hezbollah from near the southern border.

Troops have found a number of terror tunnels in the south of the country they say Hezbollah was using as staging points.

Inside the tunnels IDF soldiers find weapons, clothing, and food so the fighters can live there for months.

Footage of the raid comes after Israel has continued to wipe out the leaders of the terror groups it battles.

Another clip was released Saturday of soldiers capturing a top Hezbollah terror commander inside Lebanon and escaping in speedboats.

IDF naval commandos captured the official in a daring rain in the north of the country as fighting rages in the south.

Imad Amhaz was considered by the IDF to be a “significant source of knowledge” in the terror group’s naval force.

Ali Hamie, Lebanon’s Minister of Public Works and Transport, claimed that Amhaz was only a captain of civilian ships.

The Israeli military also said on Saturday it had killed a commander of Hezbollah's Nasser Brigade rocket unit in southern Lebanon, and that he had been responsible for several attacks on Israel.

The kidnapping clip comes just a day after the IDF released footage of it killing a Hamas leader as he was driving through Gaza.

Izz al-Din Kassab was killed along with another Hamas official named Ayman Ayesh in an Israeli strike on their car in Khan Younis.

Hezbollah names new leader

Last week, Hezbollah named its new boss as Naim Qassem - an ageing terrorist who gave a chilling speech this month vowing to fight on.

Qassem, the former deputy leader, is replacing Hassan Nasrallah - who was killed by Israel last month in massive airstrikes on Beirut.

His accession to the top of Hezbollah will make him the chief target for Israeli assassins, who have already killed dozens of terror chiefs in Lebanon and Gaza.

He takes the reins as Hezbollah defends against an Israeli invasion in the south of Lebanon.

When Qassem was appointed, Israel's Defence Minister Yoav Gollant said: "The appointment is temporary. The countdown has begun."