IRIA News

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dissolved his six-member war cabinet following the departure of centrist opposition leader Benny Gantz and his ally Gadi Eisenkot. Sensitive issues about the war with Hamas in Gaza will now be decided by a smaller forum, according to Israeli media reports.

The dissolution of the war cabinet comes in the wake of significant political changes and growing internal tensions within Netanyahu’s government. Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot, both former IDF chiefs of staff, joined a national unity government with Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition days after the start of the war in October. However, their resignation on June 9 marked a turning point. Gantz cited a lack of strategy in the war effort as his reason for leaving, stating that the prime minister’s leadership was “preventing us from approaching true victory.”

Their exit prompted calls from far-right ministers to take their place in the war cabinet. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, a member of the far-right, was among the first to demand inclusion in the decision-making body. To avoid this contentious situation, Netanyahu opted to dissolve the war cabinet entirely.

“The cabinet was in the coalition agreement with Gantz at his request. As soon as Gantz left – there was no need for a cabinet anymore,” Netanyahu said as he announced the dissolution of the war cabinet.

Smaller consultation forum

With the war cabinet now gone, Netanyahu’s 14-member strong security cabinet would make decisions on Israel’s war efforts. The cabinet also includes far-right ministers like Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.

More sensitive decisions will be made in a smaller consultation forum, expected to include Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, and Aryeh Deri, the chairman of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party. These three, along with Netanyahu, Gantz, and Eisenkot, formed the original war cabinet at the time of the attacks.

The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) has assured that these changes will not affect its chain of command. Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, the IDF’s chief spokesman, stated, “Cabinet members are being changed and the method is being changed. We have the echelon; we know the chain of command. We’re working according to the chain of command. This is a democracy.”

Humanitarian concerns

The Israeli military’s campaign in Gaza was launched in response to an unprecedented attack by Hamas on southern Israel on October 7, which resulted in around 1,200 Israeli deaths and 251 hostages taken. Since then, Israel has killed more than 37,340 people in Gaza.

Amidst the ongoing conflict and internal political turmoil, IDF’s decisions to hit more civilian targets have sparked further political strain in Tel Aviv. Netanyahu and far-right ministers have been pushing the forces to continue the attacks and not to carry out any “tactical pauses in military activity” near Rafah to allow more humanitarian aid deliveries.

These pauses are intended to facilitate the safe transport of aid from the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom border crossing to Gaza’s main north-south road. Supplies have been held at the crossing since Israel began operations in Rafah last month.

National Security Minister Ben-Gvir labeled the pauses as foolish, while Netanyahu was quoted saying, “We have a country with an army, not an army with a country.” The IDF clarified that the pauses do not mean a cessation of fighting in southern Gaza, leading to confusion about the situation on the ground.

The UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), Gaza’s largest humanitarian organization, reported ongoing fighting in Rafah and the south despite the announced pauses. The IDF confirmed its troops were engaged in “intelligence-based, targeted operations” in Rafah, locating weapons, striking structures with explosives, and eliminating “several terrorists” in the Tal al-Sultan area.