Defense Minister Yoav Gallant reportedly stormed out of a war cabinet meeting on Saturday night due to an argument with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as ties between the two men leading the war against palestinians frayed.
Gallant stormed out of the security cabinet meeting after a dispute erupted concerning the participation of aides, Israeli media reported.
The meeting of the cabinet was designated as closed to aides, and Gallant’s chief of staff was refused entry. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other officials, however, were allowed to bring in aides. According to reports, Gallant’s military secretary was allowed to enter the meeting.
Gallant responded to the refusal with outrage, and an argument broke out. During the argument, National Security Council head Tzachi Hanegbi stated, “Even I didn’t keep my aides here,” to which Gallant responded, “You forgot that you’re also an aide,” according to Walla.
When Gallant arrived at the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv he was told by Prime Minister’s Office officials that his chief of staff, Shachar Katz, would not be allowed in as aides were to be excluded, Hebrew media reported Saturday night.
Yet, according to Channel 13, Netanyahu had brought five assistants with him. An unnamed source told the network that participants had been notified before the meeting that aides would not be allowed in but Gallant arrived late “and apparently didn’t get the memo.”
Gallant’s military secretary, Brig. Gen. Guy Markizano, would have been permitted to remain, but the defense minister refused to accept the situation and walked out, taking both Katz and Markizano with him.
“Stop getting in the way of my work,” Gallant was quoted as telling Netanyahu and National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi before angrily leaving.
In a snipe at Hanegbi, whose position is under the Prime Minister’s Office, he reportedly said, “You have forgotten that you are also an aide.”
Reports did not specify who else attended the meeting, but according to the Kan public broadcaster, IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi was not there. The war cabinet’s core members are Netanyahu, Gallant, and Minister Benny Gantz, who brought his National Unity party into the government to help oversee the conflict, which erupted on October 7, when Hamas attacked Israel and killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians.
Gallant returned to the meeting an hour later. No aides were present for that part of the meeting, according to the reports.
MK Tally Gotliv, of Netanyahu and Gallant’s Likud party, derided what she characterized as preschool antics.
“How can we rely on a narrow cabinet that is behaving like kindergarten kids?” Gotliv wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “Is there not a single responsible adult there who can call on people to behave? Little children, that’s what you are, and in the midst of a war.”
The incident was the latest indication of the increasingly fraught relationship between Netanyahu and Gallant in the midst of war with Hamas. Netanyahu is also reportedly at odds with Gantz.
Though the three men initially held press conferences together, the prime minister has more recently taken to the stage himself. Gallant and Gantz were reportedly not even invited to a press conference that Netanyahu gave on Saturday night as the war reached its 100th day.
Likud MK Tally Gotliv attends a meeting of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on September 26, 2023. (Chaim Goldbergl/Flash90)
Last month Channel 12 reported that Netanyahu barred Mossad chief David Barnea and Shin Bet head Ronen Bar from participating in a recent meeting with Gallant and army chief Halevi to discuss military operations.
That report came four days after media claims that Netanyahu was stopping Gallant from meeting with Barnea without his presence, as the premier’s apparent mistrust for his defense minister grew, raising questions regarding potential security implications.
While Netanyahu cannot prevent Gallant from meeting with senior military and security officials, both the Mossad and Shin Bet are under the direct authority of the Prime Minister’s Office.
Netanyahu’s office denied the report at the time.
Netanyahu infamously fired Gallant last year after the defense minister expressed public disapproval of the government’s rush to pass contentious judicial overhaul legislation. The firing set off an uproar among the public, including unprecedented spontaneous mass protests and disorder, and the prime minister quietly retracted the firing, leaving Gallant in his post.
