Netanyahu sacks the defence secretary

Yoav Gallant was fired because he didn’t agree with the PM’s controversial plan to change the way the courts work.

Yoav Gallant, Israel’s defence minister, was dismissed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday, less than a day after the PM’s contentious attempt to reform the country’s judicial system. Large-scale demonstrations against the action quickly erupted.

Gallant was the first member of Netanyahu’s cabinet to disagree with the prime minister’s full-throttle plan to have more control over the nomination of Supreme Court judges and limit the court’s power over the Knesset.The idea has drawn criticism on both a national and international level, dividing the military and the office of the prime minister.

Israel’s national security was at risk due to the unrest surrounding the PM’s proposed power grab, the defence minister warned, and as a result, he could not support it. Gallant stated in a broadcast address on Saturday that “the gap between our society and the Israeli Defence Forces is expanding and reaching them,” posing “a clear, imminent, and concrete risk to the security of the state.” “I won’t participate in this.”

Netanyahu announced his resignation in a single sentence on Sunday, less than 24 hours later. This caused a huge uproar.Hundreds of Israelis have taken to the streets of Jerusalem to protest what they say is an outrageous overreach by the prime minister.As others gathered in front of the residences of Likud Party MKs and other senior figures, protesters stopped both lanes of the Ayalon motorway in Tel Aviv.

Although the director general of the Defence Ministry cut short his vacation to the US to come home, a number of institutions declared a national strike. Asaf Zamir, who was Israel’s general consul in New York, quit his job and said on Twitter that he would “join the fight for Israel’s future” to make sure it stays a shining example of democracy and freedom around the world.

Gallant, who used to be a naval commando, kept telling his boss that many IDF members had threatened to quit their jobs, either temporarily or permanently, if his idea became law.The military said it got a letter from 200 reserve pilots saying they wouldn’t report for duty for the next two weeks because they didn’t agree with Netanyahu’s judicial reforms, but it hasn’t said how many fewer reservists have shown up this month compared to other months.

Government insiders informed the New York Times earlier this week that IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi had even acknowledged reservists were overworked to the point where the IDF could have to scale back certain operations—a prospect that would be inconceivable to the belligerent PM.

On Sunday, former Prime Minister Ehud Barak spoke out against Netanyahu, warning that the unrest among IDF reservists would worsen and urging Netanyahu to resign. Gallant’s dismissal “demonstrates that he has lost his judgement and his ability to judge reality,” according to Barak.