Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, the Prime Minister's Office announced Sunday.
The firing comes a day after Gallant has publicly spoken out against Netanyahu's highly-disputed plan to overhaul the judicial system, asking the prime minister to halt the legislation.
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Gallant didn't say how he would vote, but he made it clear he was against the drastic measures and announced it while the prime minister was in London. "I no longer have trust in you," Netanyahu told Gallant according to an official readout of their meeting published by his office after the firing was announced.
"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided to remove from his position Defense Minister Yoav Gallant," the prime minister's office stated. Almost immediately after the announcement, hundreds of protesters arrived at key junctions across Israel. In Tel Aviv, demonstrators entered the Ayalong Highway – the main artery in Israel's largest metropolis – and blocked parts of it. Netanyahu later tweeted a statement that hinted that the cause of the firing was the minister's inaction in the face of a recent uptick in the number of Israelis who said they would not show up for reserve duty or volunteer service if they are asked to do so. "We should all reject such action," Netanyahu tweeted. People in his orbit doubled down on this, saying that the official pretext for the dismissal letter was Gallant's inability to crack down on such calls as the head of the defense establishment.
Video: Moshe Ben-Simhon / Protests in Tel Aviv erupt after Gallant fired
Gallant, a lawmaker from Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party, broke ranks on Saturday despite Netanyahu urging him to halt his much-anticipated address. In his speech, Gallant said countrywide protests against the judicial overhaul, which have included growing numbers of military reservists, were also affecting regular forces and undermining national security.
"Israel's security has always been and will always be my life's mission," Gallant said shortly after the decision was announced. Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development of Israel Avi Dichter is expected to be tapped as the new defense minister, just three months after Netanyahu's government was sworn in.
The judicial overhaul has been criticized by many as a threat to Israel's separation of powers as it would grant the governing party de facto control over the appointment of new justices and the legislation of new Basic Laws (which serve as Israel's constitution) that are almost immune from judicial review. The Likud, however, has insisted that the reform is needed in order to put Israel's judiciary in line with other democracies, where the party in power often has a decisive say on who gets appointed to the judiciary, and to counter the many years of judicial overreach. A key part of the reform is expected to reach its final vote as early as Wednesday, with the rest likely being passed in the coming weeks.
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