Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dissolved the country’s war cabinet after his main rival, Benny Gantz, withdrew from the body. The six-member war cabinet will now be replaced by a “kitchen cabinet”, which Netanyahu will be able to consult for advice on the war in Gaza.
Netanyahu was under pressure from far-right ministers in his coalition cabinet who wanted to join the war cabinet, which could cause Israeli politics to tilt further to the right.
The war cabinet was formed on October 11th after Israel declared war on Gaza in response to a Hamas-led attack on October 7th.
The cabinet was formed as a smaller body within the security cabinet, which was part of the broader coalition cabinet.
It included Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his main rival, former General Benny Gantz, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and three observers: Cabinet Ministers Aryeh Deri and Gadi Eisenkot, and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer.
The war cabinet was supposed to quickly make decisions on the conduct of the war, which would then be sent to the wider cabinet for approval.
Why was the war cabinet dissolved?
There were disagreements and fights between members in the war cabinet, and in January the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that opposition leader Yair Lapid told a party meeting that Gallant and Netanyahu “no longer speak to each other” and that the war cabinet meetings had become “a shameful arena for confrontations, fights and discussions that lead nowhere”.
On June 9th, Gantz and Observer Eisenkot, both from the National Unity Party, quit the war cabinet over the lack of a plan for Gaza after the war.
According to a member of the security cabinet, Netanyahu said on Sunday night: “There is no more war cabinet.”
“It was part of the coalition agreement with Gantz, at his request. The moment Gantz left, there is no longer such a forum,” Netanyahu said.
Gantz’s departure increased pressure on National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who both lobbied to join the war cabinet.
In a letter to Netanyahu last week, Ben-Gvir wrote that Israel’s war has been “conducted in secret” for the past eight months, through “limited forums that change their names and definitions, all for the purpose of controlling decisions and avoiding discussion of other positions that would call into question the old conception”.
Why are Ben-Gvir and Smotrich problematic?
Ben-Gvir and Smotrich represent an ultra-Orthodox, hard-right constituency within Israel’s increasingly right-leaning politics. They are also closely associated with the settler movement, which seeks to build in what is Palestinian land under international law.
Both had previously threatened to resign if Israel did not launch its current assault on the Gaza city of Rafah, then home to 1.5 million displaced people.
Both men also threatened to resign if Netanyahu went ahead with a United States (U.S.)-backed cease-fire deal before deeming Hamas “destroyed.”
Ben-Gvir and Smotrich also support the establishment of illegal settlements in Gaza, following the “voluntary migration” of Palestinians living there, a position that stands in stark contrast to Israel’s official war policy.
According to Al Jazeera, their international position is quite problematic.
None of Israel’s allies, including the U.S., are likely to engage with them, essentially undermining any potential role within the war cabinet.
However, Netanyahu cannot ignore them.
Given that Ben-Gvir and Smotrich’s parties together hold 14 seats in the Knesset, compared to, say, 12 held by Benny Gantz’s National Unity, their withdrawal would lead to the collapse of the coalition government and the end of Netanyahu’s term.
What will happen now?
The war cabinet’s role in the conflict largely ended with Gantz’s withdrawal, so its formal dissolution is unlikely to make much of a difference.
According to Netanyahu, the war cabinet will be replaced by a scaled-down “kitchen cabinet,” where sensitive discussions and consultations can take place.
According to Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, the new body will include Gallant, Dermer and National Security Council chief Tzachi Hanegbi.
This will also block Smotrich and Ben-Gvir’s attempts to join the body, N1 writes.
E.Dz.
