Protests break out as Netanyahu fires defence minister

Thousands of Israelis took to the streets on Tuesday night to protest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s dismissal of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

Opposition figures and the families of hostages accused Netanyahu of playing politics with national security and the fate of their loved ones.

“Netanyahu is selling out Israel’s security and the IDF’s fighters for [his own] disgraceful political survival. The ultra-right-wing government prefers the [draft] dodgers over the those who serve,” opposition leader Yair Lapid tweeted.

He also called on “all Zionist patriots to take to the streets tonight in protest.”

Demonstrators also began gathering in Jerusalem, Haifa and Beer-Sheva.

Netanyahu said in a recorded video that he fired Gallant because “trust between me and the minister of defense has cracked.”

Gallant responded on X, tweeting, “security of Israel has been and will always be my lifelong mission.”

Netanyahu said Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz will become Defense Minister while Minister Without Portfolio Gideon Sa’ar will become Foreign Minister.

Meanwhile, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum denounced the firing, describing it as “a direct continuation of the ‘efforts’ to torpedo the hostage deal.”

“The dismissal of the Defence Minister is an unfortunate proof of the Israeli government’s poor set of priorities,” the Forum tweeted. Saying that “the military goals in the Gaza Strip have been achieved,” the Forum called for leaders to secure a “comprehensive deal for the release of all the abductees and the end of the war.”

In Tel Aviv, one protester told The Press Service of Israel, “What Netanyahu did — firing the Defense Minister — is very bad for Israel’s security. It only shows that he completely lost any consideration of what is good for Israel. He’s only thinking about himself, what works for his own political good. And this is something which is extremely dangerous. And if we don’t go out in the streets now, we’re going to end up in a dictatorship.”

Another demonstrator told TPS-IL, “The lawlessness of Netanyahu taking on this authority in the middle of the war and with Iran that could bomb at any moment, and he does it to please the haredim and ensure that he doesn’t have a trial.” He was referring to divisions over mandatory military service for Israel’s Haredi, or Orthodox Jewish commmunity.

“I came out to save the country, because dictatorship is on the way,” said another protester “The firing of the Minister of Defence is a moral shame. I have three children in the army.”

At least 1,200 people were killed, and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Of the 97 remaining hostages, more than 30 have been declared dead. Hamas has also been holding captive two Israeli civilians since 2014 and 2015, and the bodies of two soldiers killed in 2014.

After the October 7, attacks, Hezbollah began firing rockets and launching drones at northern Israel communities daily. More than 68,000 residents of northern Israel are displaced from their homes. Hezbollah leaders have repeatedly said they would continue the attacks to prevent Israelis from returning to their homes.