Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reversed the resignation of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. According to Netanyahu, the two have expressed their disagreement.
Netanyahu decided to fire his minister on March 26 after Gallant had publicly called for the abandonment of a controversial reform law that would severely limit the power of the Supreme Court. The new law has led to major unrest in Israel for months.
According to Gallant, Israel’s security would be at stake if the new law were passed. In a speech, he called for the treatment of the law to be halted in order to counter the unrest in society. Then Netanyahu said he would fire Gallant. What followed was a day of nationwide demonstrations and strikes. That forced Netanyahu to put the law on hold for now.
In the days after Gallant’s resignation, there was immediate uncertainty about the future of the defense minister. He himself seemed to take little notice of his announced resignation and continued to work. For example, three days later he was present at the launch of a new Israeli spy satellite and, according to Israeli media, he was also simply invited to a security meeting with Netanyahu.
Moreover, Gallant’s popularity is said to have increased sharply since he spoke out against government policy. “I have decided to put our differences behind us,” Netanyahu said at a press conference on Monday. He said the two had been working closely together for the past two weeks. The controversial law itself is not yet over, just postponed. Negotiations are underway to reach a compromise.
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