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Did Haredi Conscription Play a Role in Netanyahu’s Decision to Fire Yoav Gallant?
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant during a press conference in the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv, Israel, Oct. 28, 2023. Photo: ABIR SULTAN POOL/Pool via REUTERS
As the US election was unfolding on Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed Yoav Gallant from his position as Minister of Defense, sparking protests throughout Israel.
A member of Netanyahu’s own Likud party, Gallant has nonetheless been frequently critical of the prime minister. For weeks, Netanyahu has been telegraphing Gallant’s dismissal, citing a “crisis of trust” as the official reason.
Specifically, the prime minister’s office accuses Gallant of resisting or outright refusing a number of orders from the prime minister, including on: the IDF entry into Rafah, assassination of Hezbollah chief Hasan Nasrallah, control of the Philadelphi Corridor (the area in Gaza that connects Hamas to its Iranian resupply), and more.
If the US Secretary of Defense were to engage in similar behavior against presidential orders, that would be considered insubordination, and cause for immediate dismissal — or possibly even treason, and cause for criminal penalties.
Yet in Israel, paradoxically, such behavior is accepted: unlike American cabinet secretaries — who are pure political appointees — Israeli cabinet ministers are (typically) also Members of Knesset. A Member of Knesset is legally independent from the prime minister, and thus permitted, and even expected, to sometimes criticize and disagree, just as a US senator might do towards the president.
Many Israelis saw Gallant as an important moderating voice in a cabinet that otherwise leaned to the right. To be clear: Gallant was fired only from his position as Minister of Defense, but he remains a Member of Knesset and an influential voice in the governing coalition.
Some believe that, contrary to Netanyahu’s statement, Gallant’s dismissal was actually related to the Haredi conscription law.
Last June, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that Haredi (ultra-religious) Israelis may no longer be exempted from military service as they have been for decades. In recent years, conscription was a point of political disagreement — between the priority of equally sharing Israel’s military burden versus a common Haredi argument that the real source of Israel’s safety is actually not the IDF, but rather the spiritual impact of full time study in yeshivas.
Yet with many IDF reservists now forced from their jobs and families for extended periods, the matter has taken on greater weight, with direct, real-world implications for Israeli families and for IDF preparedness. In short, Israel simply does not have enough soldiers to support a massive Haredi exemption while still remaining safe.
Exactly how the Supreme Court ruling will be implemented depends on decisions by IDF leadership and the Minister of Defense. Some Israelis feel that Netanyahu fired Gallant in order to appease the ultra-Orthodox political parties that are essential to his coalition, thus paving the way for a law that minimizes, delays, or entirely avoids Haredi conscription despite the Supreme Court ruling.
Only Netanyahu knows for certain how much the conscription issue impacted his decision, and how much was related to Gallant’s opposition to government decisions. In short, the reasons behind Gallant’s dismissal are various and complex, political, practical, and very very Israeli.
Daniel Pomerantz is the CEO of RealityCheck, an organization dedicated to deepening public conversation through robust research studies and public speaking.
The post Did Haredi Conscription Play a Role in Netanyahu’s Decision to Fire Yoav Gallant? first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.