Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced the dissolution of Israel’s six-member war cabinet.
According to a Reuters report on Monday, June 17, Netanyahu made the announcement during a meeting of the political security cabinet on Sunday evening.
Netanyahu’s far-right coalition partners had been pushing for the establishment of a new war cabinet after the more centrist Benny Gantz left the emergency government.
Nationalist-religious Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who have been advocating for Israel to continue its Gaza war despite calls for restraint from allies including the United States, had demanded a new war cabinet featuring coalition party leaders. However, Netanyahu reportedly turned them down.
“The cabinet was in the coalition agreement with Gantz, at his request. As soon as Gantz left – there is no need for a cabinet anymore,” Netanyahu said, according to a report in The Jerusalem Post.
Netanyahu is now expected to hold consultations about the Gaza war with a small group of ministers, including Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, who had been part of the war cabinet.
Gantz’s resignation from the government removed the only centrist influence from Netanyahu’s far-right coalition amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza.
Gantz called for an election, citing Netanyahu’s failure to present a post-war plan for Gaza.
According to Israeli media, Ben-Gvir wrote a letter to Netanyahu last Thursday urging him to expand the war cabinet.
The letter reportedly criticized the Israeli war effort over the past eight months, describing it as “conducted in secret” through “limited forums that change their names and definitions in a loop, all aimed at sole control over decisions and avoiding discussion of alternative viewpoints.”
During the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday, Netanyahu acknowledged, “In order to achieve the goal of eliminating Hamas’s capabilities, I made decisions that were not always accepted by the military leadership.”
The war cabinet consisted of Netanyahu, Gantz, Gallant, Dermer, Gadi Eizenkot, and Shas party leader Aryeh Deri. It is possible that Netanyahu will continue to privately consult with Gallant, Dermer, and Deri.
While this arrangement lacks legal weight, it would enable the prime minister to continue excluding Ben-Gvir and Smotrich from sensitive security discussions.
