ISRAEL: Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, said on Monday that he will leave Defence Minister Yoav Gallant in place given a growing security crisis, reversing a previous decision to sack the minister that sparked demonstrations and international outrage.
He said that the two had reached an agreement about Gallant’s public call last month to stop the administration’s controversial plan to change the way courts work. Gallant said that the plan had become a security risk for Israel.
Last week, Netanyahu declared that he would postpone the dismissal.
At a news conference on Monday, Netanyahu said, “I’ve decided to put our differences behind us.” He said that the two had been working closely together for the past two weeks.
An Italian tourist was murdered and five other people were injured in a car ramming in Tel Aviv on Friday, just hours after two Israeli girls and their mother were shot to death in the occupied West Bank.
The attacks—which came after a night of cross-border strikes in Lebanon and Gaza—added to rising Israeli-Palestinian tensions following Israeli police raids this week at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque.
Tensions threatened to rise when Israel responded to a barrage of missiles by attacking targets connected to the Islamic organisation Hamas in Gaza and southern Lebanon, but fighting stopped on Friday.
A poll done on Sunday by Israel’s local news channel showed that if elections were held right now, Netanyahu’s Likud party would lose more than a third of its seats and be unable to get a majority with his hard-right coalition partners.
Netanyahu told reporters, “I’m not disturbed by the poll.” The prime minister stated that relations with the U.S., which seemed strained over the government’s proposed judicial overhaul, remained “stronger than ever” and the two nations enjoyed intelligence cooperation and security.
Netanyahu also talked about the fact that he hasn’t been invited to the White House for an official visit during his most recent time as prime minister.
“There will be a visit; don’t worry,” said Netanyahu. His government put a halt to the overhaul’s legislation after weeks of intense protests and held negotiations with the opposition parties to reach a solution.
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