Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has sacked his defense minister, Yoav Gallant.
Netanyahu and Gallant had clashed publicly over the course of the more than year-long war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip and in the Middle East.
Netanyahu said he fired Gallant due to trust issues and “gaps” between them in the management of the war.
“In the midst of a war, more than ever, full trust is required between the prime minister and defense minister,” Netanyahu said in a statement. “Unfortunately, although in the first months of the campaign there was such trust and there was very fruitful work, during the last months this trust cracked between me and the defense minister.”
Netanyahu has reportedly nominated Israel’s foreign minister, Yisrael Katz as Gallant’s replacement.
However, Gallant in his own statement vowed that the “security of the state of Israel always was, and will always remain my life’s mission.”
Gallant’s firing occurred shortly after Israel carried out an attack against Iran that dismantled key areas of its air defense, and struck military sites.
Biden urged Netanyahu against more provocative attacks on Iranian nuclear sites or oil facilities.
