Dismissed minister wants to stay in the ruling Likud party, but PM's loyalists, who view him as part of the opposition, will be seeking a pretext to declare him a defector The post Gallant’s firing isn’t the end of Netanyahu’s campaign against his ex-defense minister appeared first on The Times of Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s shock firing of his defense chief on Tuesday night removed a key cabinet critic, but it also deepened anger among opponents over his handling of the country’s multi-front conflict.

Gallant said his dismissal was the result of a dispute over three things: the issue of ultra-Orthodox military services, the abandonment of hostages in Gaza, and the need for an official inquiry into Hamas’ October 7 attack.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired defense minister Yoav Gallant on Tuesday, after Netanyahu said trust between the two officials had “eroded” in recent months following disagreements over Israel’s war in Gaza.

The coalition that keeps Netanyahu in power is built astride a political fault line. On one side are the ultra-Orthodox parti