Last night it became official: Israel is being led by a prime minister who poses a clear and present danger to national security. Firing a defense minister in the middle of a war is unprecedented. That this decision stems not from professional considerations but from backroom political scheming is a stinging slap across the face of all who have paid this war's devastating toll, and every soldier currently serving, whether in regular service, career military, or reserves. They now know, with crushing clarity, that the man sending them into battle is guided not by national security, but by personal whims and political survival.
As always, when Benjamin Netanyahu must choose between the nation's interests and his personal gain, he chooses himself. A direct line connects Defense Minister Gallant's dismissal to the abandonment of 101 hostages in Hamas captivity. This line threads through other points: Netanyahu's ongoing dodge of responsibility for the October 7 calamity, and the calculated, venomous campaign he orchestrates through his inner circle and propaganda trumpets against top defense officials and judiciary leaders. In his eyes, they are all dangerous enemies: after Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, he'll come for IDF chief Herzi Halevi, Shin Bet Director Ronen Bar, and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, who stand in the way of his unrestrained march toward absolute power. The man who fashioned himself as a modern Winston Churchill now emerges as a Joseph Stalin figure, methodically purging his senior leadership.
Netanyahu's explanation last night for Gallant's firing was as pitiful as the act itself. Disagreement isn't grounds for dismissal, it's an opportunity to enhance organizational effectiveness. The real reason is transparent to all: Netanyahu's attempt to exempt the ultra-Orthodox from military service, which Gallant rightfully refused to rubber-stamp. Gallant was a defense minister devoted to national security, a professional anchor and island of stability and sanity amid the turbulence. Replacing him now, as battles rage in Gaza and Lebanon, and on the eve of another round of confrontation with Iran, is nothing short of abandoning our posts. It will take the new minister considerable time to learn to distinguish between a division and a battalion, between a tank and an APC. The price of this learning curve will be paid in blood, the blood of our finest sons and daughters.
The fact that Israel Katz has lent his hand to this scheme reveals everything about his character. Humility was never among his shining virtues, but his willingness to participate in this maneuver shows that he too has cast aside all restraints. As for Gideon Saar, the man who branded Gallant's previous dismissal last year "an act of madness", he proves once again that his nose can swiftly adjust to any stench, though the putrid odor of his current complicity may prove impossible to wash away.
All this unfolds while new evidence regularly surfaces about serious criminal suspicions in Netanyahu's inner circle. One can only hope these will be thoroughly investigated before his systematic purification of the civil service is complete. But until then, in a bitter twist on David Ben-Gurion's famous words, every Israeli mother should know that she has entrusted her child's fate to a prime minister who has proven himself utterly unworthy of that sacred trust.
