Former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant resigned Wednesday from the Knesset, nearly two months after being fired by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for “substantial disagreements” over Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. On Wednesday, Gallant reaffirmed his loyalty to Netanyahu’s Likud party. File Photo by Atef Safadi/EPA-EFE
Jan. 1 (UPI) — Former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant resigned from parliament Wednesday, nearly two months after being fired by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for “substantial disagreements” over Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza.
Gallant announced his resignation Wednesday night from the Knesset in a national address.
“Shortly, I will inform the speaker of the Knesset of my decision to conclude my tenure as a member of the Knesset,” Gallant said.
“After 45 years of public service — 35 of them in the IDF and the rest in the Knesset — this is just one station in a longer journey that is not yet complete,” Gallant added. “Whether on the battlefield or public service, it’s important to pause, reassess and aim for the necessary goals.”
During his speech, Gallant reaffirmed his loyalty to Netanyahu’s Likud party.
“The way of the Likud is my way,” Gallant said. “I will continue to fight for the national, ideological and Zionist path of the Likud movement.”
Netanyahu fired Gallant in November amid ongoing tensions over Israel’s war in Gaza following the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas terror attacks that left 1,200 dead, more than 5,000 wounded and 250 held hostage.
Netanyahu claimed Gallant had opposed a number of his key military decisions, including positioning Israeli Defense Forces on the Philadelphia Corridor on the Gaza Strip’s border with Egypt and demands to assassinate Hezbollah terror chief Hassan Nasrallah.
“Defense Minister Gallant and I had substantial disagreements on the management of the military campaign, disagreements which were accompanied by public statements and actions that contravened the decisions of the Cabinet and Security Cabinet,” Netanyahu said in a statement released Nov. 5.
“What is even worse, they have reached the knowledge of the enemy; our enemies have taken great delight in these disagreements and have derived much benefit from them,” Netanyahu added.
Gallant claimed he was fired over his insistence that no one in Israel should be exempt from army service.
“As the minister of defense in a difficult and protracted war, I understood that the issue of recruiting the Haredim is not only a social issue. This is first and foremost, a necessary security and military need.”
“In order to significantly lighten the burden on reservists, it is our duty to make sure that all those who are eligible for service from the general public — secular, religious and ultra-Orthodox — are recruited,” Gallant argued.
During Wednesday’s speech, Gallant listed his accomplishments with IDF in Israel’s war against Hamas.
“As minister of defense, I led the defense establishment throughout 13 months of war. I charted the way and determined the direction that allowed the State of Israel to reach a military defeat of its enemies in a war on seven fronts,” Gallant claimed.
“The defense establishment under my leadership created the conditions to achieve all the war’s urgent goals, including the ultimate return of the hostages.”