Netanyahu announces dissolution of the war cabinet

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told ministers at a cabinet meeting that the war-cabinet which was established after the October 7, 2023 attack, would be dissolved, following the resignations of ministers Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot.

Netanyahu’s decision was expected, with National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich demanding that they join the cabinet instead of the resigned ministers, a move that would heighten tensions with international partners including the United States.

Netanyahu is now expected to hold consultations on the war with a small group of ministers, including Defense Minister Yoav Galant and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, who was a member of the war cabinet and Shas party leader Aryeh Deri.

Netanyahu will continue to hold limited meetings of consultations, which have already been held in the presence of Galant, Dermer and National Security Council chief Tzachi Hanegbi, from which Ben Gvir and Smotrich were excluded.

According to Ynet (Israeli Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper) reported that the war cabinet had already met, without Eisenkot and Gantz, in a conference, however, the Prime Minister’s office defined the meeting as a just “security consultation”.

At least two such meetings were held, one of them last Thursday, on escalation in the north and negotiations on the hostage deal.

The war cabinet was formed after Gantz joined Netanyahu in a unity government at the start of the war in October, and also included Eisenkot and Aryeh Deri as observers.

Both Gantz and Eisenkot left last week because of Netanyahu’s failure to shape a strategy for the Gaza war.

After Gantz’s resignation, the US pressured Netanyahu not to dissolve the war cabinet, as they consider it more moderate and won’t make extreme decisions.

According to Ynet, by dissolving the war cabinet, Netanyahu puts himself on the sidelines, but perhaps it’s on purpose, indicating that important decisions must reach the expanded government, where there is a hardline majority of ministers and very little maneuverability, but this may be what Netanyahu wants as part of his attempts to prevent an end to the war.