Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Sunday, Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.
“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided, this evening, to dismiss Defense Minister Yoav Gallant,” the statement said.
Gallant, the defense minister and an MP for Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party, recently spoke out against the prime minister’s controversial plan to overhaul Israel’s judicial system and called on Netanyahu to suspend the legislation.
On Saturday, Gallant said: “We have to stop the legislative process for a month “for the security of Israel.” “A victory by either side in the streets of the city or in the halls of the Knesset (parliament) is a defeat for the State of Israel,” he said in a speech.
Gallant has called for the vote to be halted before MPs vote next week on a key part of the government’s proposals that would change the way judges are appointed. Said nationwide protests against judicial reform, which included growing numbers of reservists, were also affecting regular armed forces and undermining national security.
Former Prime Minister of Israel Yair Lapid criticized this move of the government and called it a shameful and corrupt law. Lapid said Netanyahu was only trying to save his seat. Ignoring the long-running anti-government protests, Netanyahu has reportedly pushed ahead with his controversial plans to weaken Israel’s judiciary.
He wrote on Twitter “The dismissal of the Minister of Defense, Yoav Galant, just because he warned of a threat to Israel’s security is a new low for an anti-Zionist government that harms national security and ignores the warning of all security officials. Netanyahu can fire Gallant, but he cannot fire reality and cannot fire the people of Israel who are standing up to the insanity of the coalition”
Critics say the law is tailor-made for Netanyahu and will lead to corruption and widen public divisions over changes to the judiciary.
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