Yoav Gallant, the ousted defence minister of Israel, is a former general who played a significant role in shaping the military strategy against Hamas in Gaza. However, he fell out of favour with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu regarding the future direction of the campaign.
A strong advocate for action in Lebanon, Mr. Gallant lost his position on Election Day in the United States, a key ally of Israel. He had significant disagreements with Mr. Netanyahu in recent months concerning the ongoing war in Gaza.
In Mr. Gallant’s view, Israel should have redirected its attention more towards the northern border with Lebanon, where the military initiated a substantial campaign to thwart Iran-backed Hezbollah militants from conducting cross-border assaults.
While Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Gallant shared a common stance on Lebanon, they diverged on strategies regarding Gaza. The dismissed defence minister believed that it was time for Israel to seek ways to conclude the conflict a year after Hamas’s attack on October 7.
“Thus, I made the decision today to terminate the tenure of the defence minister,” Mr. Netanyahu stated, announcing the appointment of foreign minister Israel Katz as his successor.
On September 18, nearly a year after the war in Gaza commenced, Mr. Gallant proclaimed that “the centre of gravity” of Israel’s military operations was “shifting north” to Lebanon, characterizing it as “the onset of a new phase of the war that demands courage, determination, and perseverance.”
Shortly thereafter, Israel disclosed that ground forces had initiated raids against Hezbollah inside Lebanon, following a surge of assaults that had significantly weakened the powerful group’s leadership.
“Gallant was among the first to advocate for Israel to take proactive measures in the north, just days after the attacks on October 7,” noted Michael Horowitz, a geopolitical expert at the Middle East-based security consultancy Le Beck.
Calev Ben-Dor, a former analyst at Israel’s foreign ministry, commented that “the rationale was that in a war, it is preferable to confront the stronger adversary first, and Hezbollah’s capabilities far exceeded those of Hamas.”
A ‘responsible’ politician
After a year of conflict in Gaza, Mr. Horowitz observed that Mr. Gallant was perceived “rightly or wrongly, as having anticipated the situation, banking on Israel’s capacity to regain the initiative.”
A former naval commando, military adviser to the late prime minister Ariel Sharon, and a senior military commander who led Israel’s invasion of the Hamas-led Gaza Strip in 2008-2009, Mr. Gallant cemented his reputation as a “responsible” politician, according to Mr. Ben-Dor.
Israel’s former defence minister Yoav Gallant is currently facing allegations of war crimes in connection with Israel’s ongoing military actions in Gaza.
“He is viewed as someone who concentrates on achieving victory in the war and advancing the national interest, rather than indulging in trivial politics,” the former analyst added, noting that even those who do not align with his political beliefs hold him in regard.
At 65, Mr. Gallant is facing accusations of war crimes linked to Israel’s current military campaign in Gaza, which has resulted in the deaths of at least 43,391 people, predominantly civilians, according to statistics from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.
The United Nations has deemed these figures as credible.
Israel began its offensive in Gaza in retaliation for the Hamas attack on October 7, which led to 1,206 Israeli fatalities, mostly among civilians, based on an AFP tally that reflects official figures from Israel, including hostages who were killed while in captivity.
Following the dismissal of the defence minister, protesters blocked a road in Tel Aviv.
In May, International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan outlined charges against Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Gallant, including war crimes, crimes against humanity, and the intentional killing and starvation of civilians, seeking arrest warrants that have yet to be issued.
‘Unifying’ national figure
Mr. Gallant often found himself at odds with Mr. Netanyahu, especially over controversial judicial reforms that have sparked widespread protests since early 2023 and discussions regarding a truce in Gaza.
According to Mr. Horowitz, the former defence minister was frequently regarded as a more “unifying” figure on a national level compared to the abrasive prime minister and his far-right allies.
Despite leading his country’s military efforts, Mr. Gallant was reported in August by Israeli media as dismissing Netanyahu’s declared war objective of “total victory” against Hamas in Gaza as “nonsense.”
A father of three, Mr. Gallant joined Netanyahu’s Likud party in 2019, having previously entered politics with the centre-right party Kulanu.
