Gallant’s dismissal legal, Israel’s AG tells High Court

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s firing this week of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant was legal, Israel’s attorney general informed the country’s High Court on Thursday.

In her reply to the court, which had ordered the government to respond to petitions against the dismissal, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara said that Netanyahu had the authority to fire a minister if he believes his policies cannot be carried out by said minister, Channel 12 reported. Based on previous rulings, this includes dismissals for political reasons, she wrote.

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Netanyahu maintains that it is critical to appoint a new defense minister, she continued, and as there is no legal reason to delay that decision the petitions should be rejected outright.

Opposition parties and their supporters argue that the decision to dismiss Gallant was made for what in their view were unacceptable political reasons.

The petitions, brought by NGOs the Movement for Quality Government (MQG) in Israel and the Israel Democracy Guard, had demanded an injunction until the court could rule on the matter.

“The dismissal of the defense minister in the midst of a war, while the State of Israel is under an unprecedented multifront threat, was made out of ulterior and narrow political motives with the sole aim of advancing draft evasion laws and preserving the coalition,” said MQG.

In a statement released by his office on Tuesday, Netanyahu said that the issue was a loss of trust between himself and Gallant.

“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 the Security Cabinet,” said Netanyahu.

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Gallant told the press on Tuesday that there were three major disagreements between himself and Netanyahu: Ultra-Orthodox recruitment, ceasefire negotiations with Hamas and the need to open an investigation into the failures of Oct. 7, 2023.

Opposition leaders held a press conference on Wednesday attacking Netanyahu’s decision, framing it as having been made for petty political reasons.

Anti-Netanyahu protesters blocked roads on Tuesday night in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa and other cities. “We deserve better leaders,” demonstrators chanted outside the prime minister’s Jerusalem residence.

On the right, Gallant’s dismissal was welcomed. Israeli Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi praised the move, saying Gallant had “failed to rise to the heroic spirit of our brave warriors who demand victory … Now it’s really possible to say: Together to absolute victory in Gaza.”

Gallant often opposed Netanyahu on decisions related to the war effort, with some of the disputes spilling into the public sphere. According to Netanyahu, these disagreements interfered with the military campaign, a view he said was shared by the majority of the Cabinet.

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“Virtually all members share the feeling that this state of affairs cannot continue,” Netanyahu said on Tuesday.

Gallant’s first major disagreement with Netanyahu pre-dates the war, beginning just three months into his tenure during the crisis over the government’s judicial reform effort last year. Gallant, in a dramatic public statement on March 25, 2023, said the reform plan needed to stop.

Netanyahu fired him a day later, but reinstalled him after mass protests against the decision.

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