Netanyahu fires Gallant, says no trust with defense minister at time of war - MEGATHREAD

[u/Alonn12]

https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog-november-5-2024/

[u/kach-oti-al-hagamal]

Can someone explain it to me simply...

What ramifications will this have

• for the war
• and for Israeli society in general?

[u/Droi → u/kach-oti-al-hagamal]

Here's an actual explanation:
This is a political termination. Bibi has about 99 problems but for him there is only one real problem: keeping his seat.
His seat is at risk because his coalition relies on the ultra-orthodox parties, and there has been a very long issue with getting them to serve in the IDF (which should be obvious, but they are terrified of losing their religion and turning secular - which is overblown by their own rabbis).

Bibi has been trying many different political tricks (during a war!) to somehow resolve or delay this issue, but it is reaching a boiling point that cannot be ignored anymore - the Haredis are giving an ultimatum (even though they technically don't have a better alternative even if a new government is formed) and Bibi needs to show them he is serious in trying to solve their problem - even firing his defense minister in the middle of a war (some would argue this is treason, I wouldn't blame them). Gallant has been insisting that he wants to find a solution that solves the army's needs, and something's gotta give.

While this clusterf*ck is going on, Bibi and his staff are being investigated for very serious security criminal offenses, with a lot of mystery around the charges.

Bibi firing Gallant is a very desperate act, because he has done it before and it paralyzed the country with protests and strikes - to the point it made him take it back. This means he really sees no alternative to this political last ditch effort to save his coalition (and his own seat).

The war will continue regardless, this has nothing to do with it and a new election would take many months to settle.
Israel is going to be seeing a lot of unrest and it's most likely going to break the coalition - even in the Likud party people are not willing to risk the lives of their children who are serving in the army just to keep Bibi's seat.
Even if there is an election, it is not clear that a new coalition could be formed (as has happened multiple times in recent years, and Israel had to go to new elections several times in a row). Bibi's resilience, intelligence, and narcissism is an unfortunate and tragic combination that leaves Israel in a bind that is hard to untangle.

Edit: A month later, evidence comes out for my theory: Maariv story about how Bibi was able to postpone the Haredis from resigning by firing Gallant:
https://www.maariv.co.il/news/politics/article-1152987

I love how most people who hate Netanyahu hate him for the wrong reasons. He is not a warmonger, he is not racist, he is not stupid, he is not evil. He is just extremely narcissistic and willing to risk your children's lives to keep his seat.

[u/kach-oti-al-hagamal → u/Droi]

thanks for the explanation. I'm literally doing aliyah this month. News like this just freaks me out and makes me worry that we won't even have a country

[u/Sewsusie15 → u/kach-oti-al-hagamal]

Welcome, and good for you for asking questions! You'll almost certainly be eligible to vote in our next election. Better to have some idea of what's been going on beforehand.

[u/Droi → u/kach-oti-al-hagamal]

Don't worry, Israel is bigger than this. If you decided to move to Israel in the middle of a 7-front war this should not change it. 😄
Israeli politics are sad and annoying, if Bibi had the decency and actual patriotism to step down all of this would have been resolved.

[u/kach-oti-al-hagamal → u/Droi]

Thanks for the reassurance!

Actually I started aliyah paperwork right before this whole war started lol :D talk about timing!