Moderator Action: The topic of this thread is Israel's war on its neighbors, not China, not Africa, not Afghanistan. Thanks.
[RD] War in Gaza News: Pas de Deux
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Broken_Erika
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Israel PM Netanyahu fires defence minister Gallant
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has fired defence minister Yoav Gallant, saying there is a "crisis of trust" between them.Netanyahu said in a statement his trust in Gallant had "eroded" in recent months and Foreign Minister Israel Katz would replace Gallant.
Gallant posted on social media that the "security of the state of Israel was and will always remain the mission of my life".
The sacking has already prompted protests on the streets of Tel Aviv and political opposition leaders have called for wider public demonstrations.
Netanyahu and Gallant have long had a divisive working relationship, and over the past year there have been reports of shouting matches between the two men over Israel’s war strategy.
Gallant has said a hostage release deal with Hamas should be prioritised ahead of continuing the war in Gaza, a position rejected by the PM.
The former defence minister has also been unhappy at plans to continue to allow Israel’s Ultra Othrodox citizens to be exempt from serving in the military.
Months before the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023, Netanyahu had fired Gallant over political differences, before reinstating him following major public outcry.
But on Tuesday Netanyahu said: "In the midst of a war, more than ever, full trust is required between the prime minister and the minister of defence.
He said although there had been trust and "fruitful work" in the first months of the war, "during the last months this trust cracked".
Netanyahu added that "significant gaps were discovered between me and Gallant in the management of the campaign".
These were "accompanied by statements and actions that contradict the decisions of the government," he added.
Following his firing, Gallant posted only a short message on X, stating that the security of Israel "was and will always remain the mission of my life".
His replacement Katz is seen as even more hawkish in terms of military strategy.
Another Netanyahu ally, Gideon Sa'ar - who previously held no cabinet portfolio- will become the new foreign minister.
Gallant's removal will come into effect in 48 hours. The appointment of the new ministers requires the approval of the government and then the Knesset.
Netanyahu first fired Gallant in March 2023 following their disagreement over controversial plans to overhaul the justice system.
But he was forced to retract the sacking following massive public protests in several cities in Israel - an event that became known as "Gallant Night."
In May this year, Gallant voiced open frustration at the government’s failure to address the question of a post-war plan for Gaza. Gallant wanted Netanyahu to declare publicly that Israel has no plans to take over civilian and military rule in Gaza.
It was a rare public sign of divisions within Israel's war cabinet over the direction of the military campaign.
“Since October, I have been raising this issue consistently in the cabinet,” Gallant said, “and have received no response".
Netanyahu responded by saying that he was "not ready to exchange Hamastan for Fatahstan," in reference to rival Palestinian groups Hamas and Fatah.
Responding to Gallant's removal on Tuesday night, members of Israel's political opposition parties called for protests from the public.
A group representing the families of people taken hostage by Hamas in its 7 October attack also condemned Netanyhu's dismissal of Gallant, calling it a continuation of efforts to "torpedo" a release deal.
Over 100 hostages out of 251 taken by Hamas on 7 October 2023 remain unaccounted for more than a year into the war.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum called on the incoming minister Katz to “express an explicit commitment to the end of the war and to carry out a comprehensive deal for the immediate return of all the abductees”.
Gallant’s dismissal also takes place on the day of the presidential election in the US- Israel’s key backer in its war in Gaza - a timing noted by several Israeli media outlets.
Gallant was viewed as having a much better relationship with the White House than Netanyahu.
A representative for the White House's National Security Council said on Tuesday: "Minister Gallant has been an important partner on all matters related to the defence of Israel. As close partners, we will continue to work collaboratively with Israel’s next minister of defence."
Observers note that Gallant's removal also comes at a time where Netanyahu is under pressure by far-right politicians to pass a bill which would have continued to allow Israel's Ultra Othrodox citizens to be exempt from serving in the military. Gallant had been a high-profile opponent of the bill.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cqj07jdzzgno
Ajidica
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I'll be honest, solving Iranian-Saudi hostility seems to be the equivalent of "solve Israel-Palestine" for countries in the 90s. They can get the two parties to grip-and-grimace, but has it resolved the fundamental issues? I'm not so sure. The Gulf Slave-States still seem to be letting Palestine and Lebanon stand on their own.
As far as Iranian air defense and Israels attack, I'm genuinely interested in any articles or sources for it. The lack of reporting makes it hard to see how effective attacks were or even what the goals were.
If they were successful, Israel would show more, and if they were unsuccessful, Iran would show more. However, there is another possibility: nobody wants an escalation. Israel simply wants to secure its own interests, while Iran's comfort zone is operating through proxies.
E.man
King
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A move prompted by the far right so the Ultra Orthodox don't have to do military service?
Hypocrites. They're the zionist sh!t stirrers in the first place.
Broken_Erika
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Broken_Erika
Play with me.
Broken_Erika
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Gallant. All 3 things made him unacceptable to the right wing ministers and Bibi
Lexicus
Deity
It's wider ranging than that. Gallant is a genocidal Likudnik like Netanyahu, but he had some grasp of the realities that @innonimatu laid out in his posts. Netanyahu has essentially already remade the war cabinet in his image, and Gallant's replacement will almost certainly be either an ideologue or a yes-man.
innonimatu
the resident Cassandra
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Imo the lack of reporting shows Israel's attack failed. And shocked them. Reports from within Israel were that the plan was a massive attack, where the first stage would be supression of air defenses with standoff weapons, a second stage would be bombing runs with planes over Iran, and further bombing runs later.
The supression of air defenses failed so hard that no plane approached iranian air space. If Israel's govermment had any evidence of damage to Iran's defense infrastructure they would have bragged on and on about it. And done further attacks.
You can look at israeli media in english, and at some of the few israeli bloggers who dare post against stacthing criticism of the whiole national project. But you will not find hard evidence. My conclusions are mostly from the way the israeli government behaved: lots of talk about a big retaliation coming, that was per the whole israeli style and particularly the ultra-right winger style in the ruccent governent, and then... nothing. No evidence, no bragging, sudden supression of the talk about hitting Iran hard. My conclusion is that they tried, and failed.
aelf
Ashen One
Well, there's zero chance Trump would exert enough pressure on Israel to end this war. Palestine and Lebanon are toast. And people will cheer.
innonimatu
the resident Cassandra
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I hope you will be wrong on that one. I'm more worried about what happens between now and January. People being starved to death by the current genocidaires in power can't afford to wait.
Broken_Erika
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Israel passes law to deport relatives of attackers, including citizens
The Israeli parliament has passed a law allowing the government to deport the family members of people convicted of terrorism offences, including Israeli citizens.The controversial legislation, proposed by a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party, applies to first-degree relatives, meaning the parents, siblings or children of those found guilty of committing or supporting terrorism.
Israeli human rights organisations say the law is unconstitutional.
Some opposition members of the Knesset, Israel's parliament, suggested it is targeted only at Palestinian citizens of Israel, sometimes called Israeli Arabs.
The law allows for the deportation of the family members of those who had advance knowledge and either failed to report the matter to the police or “expressed support or identification with an act of terrorism”.
Relatives of those who published “praise, sympathy or encouragement for an act of terrorism or a terrorist organisation” could also be deported.
Relatives would be deported by order of the interior minister. Some members of the Knesset suggested during the debate on the bill that it would not be used against Jewish Israeli citizens, the Times of Israel website reported.
“Yigal Amir’s family will not be deported anywhere," said opposition member of parliament Merav Michaeli, referring to former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's assassin, a Jewish extremist.
Launching a similar attack, Mickey Levy asked “whether you will deport Ben Gvir’s family,” a reference to National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s conviction in his youth for incitement to violence and supporting a terror group.
Dr Dahlia Scheindlin, an Israeli political analyst, told the BBC there was "no question" the law was intended to apply to Israeli Arabs and Palestinians.
"It is very unlikely that a Jewish citizen of Israel would ever be deported under this law," Dr Scheindlin said.
"This is clear from certain provisions in the law itself but also important elements which will determine how the law is applied, including that in normal Israeli parlance, the term 'terror' is almost never applied to Jewish acts of violence against Palestinian civilians."
About 20% of the country's population are Palestinian citizens of Israel.
A truck which hit a bus stop in central Israel last month was driven by a man identified by authorities as a Palestinian citizen of Israel.
Many Israeli Arabs have also been convicted for posting support or sympathy for Hamas on social media since 7 October last year.
Both the justice ministry and the attorney general’s office have raised concerns about how the legislation, which will likely be challenged in court, can be enforced.
Eran Shamir-Borer, a senior researcher at the Israel Democracy Institute and a former international law expert for the Israeli military, said that if the legislation reaches the Supreme Court, it would likely to be struck down based on previous Israeli cases regarding deportation.
“The bottom line is this is completely non-constitutional and a clear conflict to Israel’s core values,” Mr Shamir-Borer told the Associated Press news agency.
Those deported will be sent to Gaza or to “another destination determined according to the circumstances".
Other than the military, ordinary Israeli citizens are not legally allowed to enter Gaza.
About 100 Israelis are thought to be being held hostage in Gaza by Hamas, including around 60 who are thought to still be alive.
Israeli citizens would retain their citizenship even after being expelled from the country. They would not be allowed to return for between seven and 15 years.
Permanent residents could be deported for between 10 and 20 years.
The majority of the Palestinian population of East Jerusalem hold permanent Israeli residency.
In addition, a five-year temporary order was approved allowing for prison sentences for children under the age of 14 convicted of murder as part of an act of terrorism or as part of the activities of a terrorist organisation.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1mlp9xdxl1o
Lexicus
Deity
Wait for what?
Zardnaar
Deity
Well you're delusional if you think Trump will aid Gaza.
Israel just got a big green light.
Israel just got a big green light.
Ajidica
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I dunno, the Israeli far-right seems pretty happy about Trump winning.
Spoiler for size :
