The tense relationship between Netanyahu and Gallant, a postponed conflict fueled by the Gaza war Policy

Occupied Jerusalem- The debate and screaming that took place in the “cabinet” war council between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Galant – who left the session angrily – reflected the depth of the tension in relations and the crisis of trust between them, the initial signs of which began to become clear with the establishment of the 37th government of Israel on December 29, 2022. .

The mutual shouting between Netanyahu and Gallant in the session that ended without decisions was nothing but another stage of the intense tension between them during the period of the war on Gaza, a tension that carries contentious accumulations and sediments regarding the conflict of forces and camps within the ruling Likud Party even before the war.

The conflict carries with it a state of political tension between the camps in Likud over the identity of the leader who will succeed Netanyahu, who sees in Gallant the military man who threatens his throne in the party and the prime minister’s seat.

Since the formation of the government, Netanyahu has intended to limit Gallant’s powers and undermine his influence within Likud and the Israeli party scene by distributing the powers of the Ministry of Security to the partners in the “Religious Zionism” government coalition headed by Bezalel Smotrich by appointing him as a minister alongside Gallant.

Hidden tension

Netanyahu stripped Gallant of his powers and responsibility for what is known as the “Coordinator of Government Activities in the Palestinian Territories” and the “Civil Administration,” and transferred them to Smotrich, who also holds the position of Finance Minister. He also transferred responsibility for the “Border Guard” teams in the West Bank and Jerusalem from Gallant to the Prime Minister. “Jewish Greatness” Itamar Ben Gvir, who was appointed to the position of Israeli Minister of National Security.

The hidden tension and conflict behind the scenes turned into a comprehensive confrontation between them, as Netanyahu dismissed Gallant from his position in March 2023, due to Gallant’s position in support of the protests against the amendments to the judiciary, and his warning of the repercussions of the amendments in the Israeli army and reserve forces.

Under the weight of the protests, Netanyahu was forced to retract the dismissal decision, but nothing was forgotten, as this dismissal continued to govern the relations between them in managing the government coalition.

The tension in relations between Netanyahu and Gallant expanded and turned into a crisis of trust between them as the Prime Minister sought to limit the influence of the Minister of Security within the government, and this was evident at the end of July 2023 when the Knesset approved the “Reasonableness Law” to limit the powers of the Supreme Court.

Before voting on the law, the Minister of Security begged Israeli Justice Minister Yariv Levin to stop or soften the wording of the law, but Netanyahu – who was sitting between the two – ignored Gallant and gave the green light to the government coalition to vote on the law.

Gallant was angry at “the adoption of the reasonableness law,” and Israeli writer Shalom Yerushalmi says, “He is still angry at Netanyahu’s decision to grant Smotrich a minister’s position in the Defense Ministry,” pointing out that Gallant warned Netanyahu of the potential dangers of this appointment, but the prime minister did not take these warnings into account. Considering that he had no other choice.

Conflict situation

Yerushalmi said in his article on the website “Zaman Yisrael” that “the endless conflicts within the Ministry of Defense – which also affected the situation in the West Bank – show that Gallant was right.”

He added that these conflicts were ignited after the “Al-Aqsa Flood” and Netanyahu’s efforts to evade responsibility and transfer it to Gallant and Army Chief of Staff Herzi Halevy.

According to Yerushalmi, the tension between them turned into a state of conflict during the war in the Gaza Strip, noting that there are daily confrontations and disagreements between Netanyahu, Gallant and their teams, which reflects the sediments of disagreements – whether in the government or within Likud – and the crisis of confidence between them.

The Israeli writer recalled the Shin Bet guards preventing Gallant from entering Netanyahu’s office, the complaint against the head of Gallant’s office, who requested to record a security discussion, perhaps for the purposes of discussions in the government investigation committee that would be established, and refraining more than once from coming up with a joint briefing on the developments and course of the war.

With the declaration of a state of emergency in Israel following the sudden attack of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) on October 7, 2023, the tension between Netanyahu and Gallant reversed and turned into a dispute over the goals of the war.

Gallant was pushing for a war on the northern fronts against Lebanon and the southern fronts against Gaza, and called for a pre-emptive strike against Hezbollah the day after the Al-Aqsa flood, but Netanyahu opposed this and prevented it, and was hesitant even about a ground incursion into the Gaza Strip.

Seventh front

Not only that, but Netanyahu was initially – according to analysts’ estimates – opposed to the formation of an emergency government and a war council. He repeatedly postponed the formation of the emergency government and tried to obstruct it, and he had reservations about Gallant’s participation in the press conference during which the formation of the war government was announced.

According to military affairs analyst Yossi Yehoshua on the “Ynet” website affiliated with the “Yedioth Ahronoth” newspaper, the seventh front that Israel faces is the war taking place between Netanyahu and Gallant, saying that “some describe the tensions between them as another arena, in addition to the arenas of Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and Iran.” And Yemen and Iraq.”

He explained that what he described as the “ugly fight” in the war council meeting between them is just one expression of the acute tension between the two, which dates back to the distant history before the war, pointing out that this tension could affect the conduct of the various fronts that Israel is fighting, especially in The shadow of the mutual criticism that came out into the open.

The military affairs analyst estimated that the Prime Minister – who did not trust Galant due to political and personal motives – also sought to isolate him and exclude him from the course of the war, as he feared cooperation between 3 generals whom he considered “hostile to him, and not from today”, namely Galant and the head of the “National Camp” Benny. Gantz and former Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot.