Netanyahu dissolves Israeli war cabinet after Gantz exit

PM will hold Gaza war council with ministers from his party

- TOM WATLING, CHRIS STEVENSON

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dissolved the country’s war cabinet – a move that should solidify his grasp of decision-making over the war in Gaza.

The move comes as discontent mounts over Israel’s conduct during the war and amid calls for a week of protests from antigovernment groups. The move was triggered after the moderate opposition leader Benny Gantz quit the cabinet last week, over what he believes is a lack of strategy over the war and what comes after it.

Mr Gantz joined a national unity government with Mr Netanyahu’s hardline coalition days after the start of the war in October. He had demanded that a small cabinet be formed as a way to sideline far-right legislators in government. Immediately afterwards, far-right national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said he had written to Mr Netanyahu to demand that he be added to the war cabinet.

Dissolving the war cabinet allows Mr Netanyahu to avoid clashes with his coalition partners, whose calls for Israel’s military to keep pushing on in Gaza are increasingly at odds with growing international calls for a ceasefire.

The war was triggered by a Hamas attack inside Israel during which around 1,200 people were killed and 250 more were taken hostage. A little under half of those are still being held captive in Gaza. More than 37,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza as a result of the Israeli military’s offensive, according to the local health ministry.