Israel: New crisis between the army and finances put Netanyahu in more trouble

A new crisis, the conflict of powers between the Minister of the Occupation Army, Yoav Gallant, and the Minister of Finance, Smotrich, returned again today, after the evacuation of settlers from a plot of land near the Shilo settlement on the road between Nablus and Ramallah.

Smotrich sent a letter to the Prime Minister Netanyahu, in which he said that, based on his authority as responsible for the coordinator and civil administration, he gave orders not to evacuate the settlers, but Defense Minister Galant violated the decision, which he considered a violation of the coalition agreements.

The Israeli Minister of Finance told Netanyahu: “This will make it very difficult for the government’s work… I ask you to intervene immediately,” referring to the agreements concluded by the Likud with the leaders of religious Zionism to grant Smotrich powers regarding Palestinian construction and settlement in the occupied West Bank.

Israeli media quoted an official in the Israeli army, commenting on Smotrich’s letter: “The evacuation takes place by order of the Supreme Court… It doesn’t matter what messages the minister sends… We’re obligated to evacuate”.

After these developments, Smotrich’s office announced that the Religious Zionism party will hold a meeting this afternoon to discuss what it considered Galant’s violation of the coalition agreements.

Before the formation of the current government after the Likud party alliance with religious Zionist parties, and the news of Netanyahu’s intentions to grant Smotrich and Ben Gvir powers related to the work of the Minister of Defense, former officers and commanders in the security and military services in the occupying country warned against accepting a derogation from his powers”.

This dispute wasn’t the first between Smotrich and Gallant, as few weeks ago, the leader of the Religious Zionism party protested the evacuation of a settlement outpost near Nablus, and the dispute was smoothed after the adoption of a law to legalize dozens of outposts in the West Bank, and an agreement to accelerate settlement projects.

In another context, Israeli media reported on Wednesday, that the government of Benjamin Netanyahu, had resorted to an emergency plan with the approaching the Muslims holy month of Ramadan.

According to Israeli media, “In the wake of the security tensions with the approaching month of Ramadan, and due to the acute shortage of manpower in the police, the Minister of National Security, the Prime Minister, and the Minister of Finance agreed on a contingency plan to encourage recruitment to serve in border guards in Jerusalem”.

It’s expected that the holy month of Ramadan will witness an escalation due to the violations committed by the settlers and Israeli soldiers, such as the incursions and desecration of al Aqsa Mosque and Islamic sanctities, which provokes Muslims.