The Israeli defense minister whose dismissal by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu brought the country's constitutional crisis to a boil this week may still keep his job, two sources told Reuters on Thursday.
Defence Minister Yoav Gallant came out on Saturday against the pace of the government's hotly contested push to overhaul the judiciary and spurred Netanyahu to announce his dismissal on Sunday, triggering a surge in street protests and foreign alarm.
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But aides said Gallant never received a formal dismissal letter from Netanyahu, who has since faced rare public censure from the United States over the justice drive, according to two sources familiar with the situation said lawmaker Aryeh Deri, leader of the Shas party in Netanyahu's nationalist-religious coalition government, was working to keep Gallant in office.
His dismissal and the fury it caused underlined the concern among many in Israel that the crisis around the justice overhaul is opening up social divisions, including in the military, that is posing a serious risk to Israel's future while the government's plan to control judicial appointments has triggered some of the biggest protests in Israeli history, with opponents calling the move a threat to democracy.
One of the sources said Deri, a longtime Netanyahu ally, was looking to stabilize the government and calm domestic anger, the second source said officials in Washington and within the Israeli defense establishment were troubled by Gallant's dismissal and the ensuing upheaval at a particularly sensitive time in the region.
In a sign he was conducting business as usual on Thursday, Gallant's office said he raised a Passover holiday toast with domestic security officials and distributed a photo of himself smiling at the event, where he said Israel's security was at a "complex" point in time. On Wednesday, Netanyahu voiced confidence he would find a compromise with the political opposition over the judicial overhaul after the move drew strong reproach from US President Joe Biden.
As of Saturday, Gallant – whose criticism of the Netanyahu-led government's planned judicial reform led to his dismissal – was still on the job, apparently in limbo. According to reports in local media, he is willing to apologize for the timing of his call to halt the controversial legislation, made without coordination with Netanyahu, who was on an official visit to London.
It was unclear whether he was willing to issue a more extensive apology for the contents of the speech.
i24NEWS contributed to this report.
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