Berliner Boersenzeitung - Israel's Netanyahu fires defence minister over 'trust' breakdown

EUR -
AED 3.855217
AFN 71.373695
ALL 98.086841
AMD 409.499391
ANG 1.892045
AOA 958.304079
ARS 1056.43833
AUD 1.614056
AWG 1.889317
AZN 1.789654
BAM 1.959264
BBD 2.119648
BDT 125.45181
BGN 1.955863
BHD 0.395595
BIF 3039.701908
BMD 1.049621
BND 1.414728
BOB 7.281151
BRL 6.097458
BSD 1.049856
BTN 88.508578
BWP 14.341904
BYN 3.435574
BYR 20572.56816
BZD 2.116182
CAD 1.467422
CDF 3012.412077
CHF 0.930027
CLF 0.037134
CLP 1024.648371
CNY 7.598992
CNH 7.606303
COP 4605.998583
CRC 535.04601
CUC 1.049621
CUP 27.814952
CVE 110.682261
CZK 25.297966
DJF 186.538934
DKK 7.459046
DOP 63.391203
DZD 140.2911
EGP 52.080293
ERN 15.744312
ETB 129.575469
FJD 2.386102
FKP 0.828484
GBP 0.834994
GEL 2.865754
GGP 0.828484
GHS 16.480822
GIP 0.828484
GMD 74.523127
GNF 9058.227685
GTQ 8.106333
GYD 219.646726
HKD 8.168401
HNL 26.476707
HRK 7.487217
HTG 137.793632
HUF 409.44642
IDR 16659.634207
ILS 3.825275
IMP 0.828484
INR 88.463513
IQD 1375.52809
IRR 44175.916778
ISK 145.057681
JEP 0.828484
JMD 166.61459
JOD 0.744604
JPY 161.812175
KES 135.923766
KGS 91.095965
KHR 4250.96374
KMF 492.219408
KPW 944.658344
KRW 1469.046764
KWD 0.323
KYD 0.87488
KZT 524.216863
LAK 23054.921557
LBP 93993.544714
LKR 305.490134
LRD 188.748039
LSL 18.934982
LTL 3.099258
LVL 0.634905
LYD 5.137911
MAD 10.531373
MDL 19.191664
MGA 4911.175959
MKD 61.508678
MMK 3409.127495
MNT 3566.611505
MOP 8.413296
MRU 41.895577
MUR 49.038084
MVR 16.21647
MWK 1822.141813
MXN 21.295699
MYR 4.672901
MZN 67.06868
NAD 18.935102
NGN 1766.648573
NIO 38.584328
NOK 11.638883
NPR 141.614085
NZD 1.795052
OMR 0.404093
PAB 1.049876
PEN 3.986466
PGK 4.167193
PHP 61.883021
PKR 291.741996
PLN 4.309235
PYG 8179.462028
QAR 3.821253
RON 4.977411
RSD 117.013851
RUB 109.160026
RWF 1439.03015
SAR 3.941437
SBD 8.806938
SCR 14.267894
SDG 631.352478
SEK 11.527293
SGD 1.412816
SHP 0.828484
SLE 23.822221
SLL 22010.02885
SOS 599.863568
SRD 37.255212
STD 21725.031891
SVC 9.186242
SYP 2637.203661
SZL 18.935273
THB 36.337792
TJS 11.191314
TMT 3.684169
TND 3.328872
TOP 2.458318
TRY 36.293275
TTD 7.130744
TWD 34.052845
TZS 2781.495181
UAH 43.567531
UGX 3889.877655
USD 1.049621
UYU 44.74912
UZS 13466.635266
VES 48.89603
VND 26681.361358
VUV 124.613093
WST 2.930112
XAF 657.131389
XAG 0.034601
XAU 0.000399
XCD 2.836653
XDR 0.80302
XOF 655.290859
XPF 119.331742
YER 262.326515
ZAR 18.937815
ZMK 9447.847439
ZMW 28.949288
ZWL 337.977477
  • RBGPF

    0.8100

    61

    +1.33%

  • RYCEF

    -0.0300

    6.77

    -0.44%

  • JRI

    0.1600

    13.37

    +1.2%

  • SCS

    0.4500

    13.72

    +3.28%

  • NGG

    0.1500

    63.26

    +0.24%

  • BCC

    8.7200

    152.5

    +5.72%

  • CMSC

    0.0578

    24.73

    +0.23%

  • GSK

    0.1900

    34.15

    +0.56%

  • RIO

    0.6300

    62.98

    +1%

  • BTI

    -0.0500

    37.33

    -0.13%

  • RELX

    -0.1800

    46.57

    -0.39%

  • VOD

    0.1800

    8.91

    +2.02%

  • BCE

    0.2500

    27.02

    +0.93%

  • CMSD

    0.1200

    24.58

    +0.49%

  • AZN

    0.7700

    66.4

    +1.16%

  • BP

    -0.4000

    29.32

    -1.36%

Israel's Netanyahu fires defence minister over 'trust' breakdown
Israel's Netanyahu fires defence minister over 'trust' breakdown / Photo: Abir SULTAN - POOL/AFP/File

Israel's Netanyahu fires defence minister over 'trust' breakdown

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired defence minister Yoav Gallant on Tuesday after public differences over the ongoing war in Gaza, replacing him with former top diplomat Israel Katz.

Text size:

The surprise move to sack Gallant -- a hawk on the war against Hezbollah but who also pushed for a ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza -- comes as voters choose a new president in the United States, Israel's top military backer.

Netanyahu and Gallant have frequently clashed over Israel's retaliatory military offensive against Hamas following the Palestinian militant group's deadly attack on Israel on October 7 last year.

"Over the past few months... trust has eroded. In light of this, I decided today to end the term of the defence minister," a statement from the Netanyahu's office said, adding that he had appointed Katz to take his place.

Shortly after his appointment, Katz vowed "victory over our enemies and to achieve the goals of the war", including "the destruction of Hamas in Gaza, the defeat of Hezbollah in Lebanon" and the return of hostages.

Gideon Saar, a minister without portfolio, was in turn appointed to replace Katz as foreign minister.

After being fired, Gallant posted on X that Israel's security would remain his life's "mission".

Netanyahu said he had made attempts to bridge his differences with Gallant.

"But they only grew wider. These divisions even reached public knowledge in an unusual manner and, worse, became known to our enemies, who... derived substantial benefit from them," he said.

Gallant and Netanyahu had also disagreed on the issue of exemption from military service for ultra-Orthodox men.

The sacked minister had been a key advocate for ultra-Orthodox Jews to be called up, but Netanyahu wanted their exemption to continue, fearing their conscription could break up his far-right coalition government.

Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said Netanyahu "did well" to remove Gallant.

- Netanyahu 'emboldened' -

The reshuffle's timing comes at a critical juncture in the Gaza and Lebanon wars, with both Hamas and Hezbollah massively weakened.

Jonathan Rynhold of the political studies department at Bar-Ilan University told AFP Netanyahu is feeling "emboldened because he is improving in the polls".

"He is also taking advantage of the fact that the US election is happening today... everyone's focus is elsewhere," he said.

Aviv Bushinsky, a political commentator and former Netanyahu chief of staff, said Gallant's dismissal was just "a matter of time".

"Maybe Netanyahu fears that the Democrats will win and then it will be more even complicated" to fire Gallant, he said.

"I cannot recall an incident when Israel Katz was in opposition to Netanyahu," he said.

"Besides, Netanyahu thinks he can run the show himself."

Gallant's sacking sparked protests in Tel Aviv, where hundreds of people chanted anti-Netanyahu slogans and demanded the return of hostages held in Gaza.

Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed 43,391 people in Gaza, a majority of them civilians, according to Gaza health ministry figures which the United Nations considers to be reliable.

Hamas also seized 251 hostages in their attack, of whom Israel believes 63 people including two children are still alive in Gaza.

After Gallant's dismissal, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum campaign group in a statement urged Katz "to prioritise a hostage deal... to secure the immediate release of all hostages".

- Rockets and drones -

From the air and on the ground, Israeli forces pressed their multi-front campaign Tuesday against militants more than a year after the Gaza war began.

Authorities in Lebanon reported raids across the country.

The health ministry said an Israeli attack in a town south of Beirut killed 15 people, after an earlier strike on the coastal town of Jiyeh killed one person and wounded 20.

Hezbollah on Tuesday claimed it had fired rockets and drones into northern Israel, and also targeted Israeli troops near the border inside Lebanon.

Tuesday's fighting came more than a month into the Hezbollah-Israel war which has left at least 1,964 dead in Lebanon since September 23, according to an AFP tally of health ministry figures.

In neighbouring Syria, close to the border with Lebanon, the town of Al-Qusayr came under air attack for the second time in a week.

Israel's military said it carried out "an intelligence-based strike on weapons storage facilities used by Hezbollah's munitions unit".

Syria's official SANA news agency said Al-Qusayr industrial zone was hit and Israel "also targeted some residential buildings surrounding the industrial zone".

- West Bank deaths -

In the West Bank, which has seen spiralling violence since the October 7 attack, Palestinian officials said Israeli forces killed seven Palestinians in separate operations.

The Israeli military told AFP it had targeted "terrorists".

Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 757 Palestinians in the West Bank since the start of the Gaza war, according to the Ramallah-based health ministry.

Palestinian attacks on Israelis have also killed at least 24 people in the same period in the West Bank, according to official Israeli figures.

Palestinians in Gaza told AFP that whoever wins Tuesday's US presidential election must end the conflict in the territory.

"We are hanging by a thread, and like every other people in the world, we are looking for someone who can stop the war," said Ayman al-Omreiti, 45, in Gaza City.

burs-srm/jsa

(L.Kaufmann--BBZ)