By Lucy Adautin
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has disbanded his six-member war cabinet, according to an Israeli official on Monday. This anticipated action followed the exit of centrist former general Benny Gantz from the government.
Netanyahu is now likely to consult on the Gaza war with a selected group of ministers, including Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, both of whom were part of the former war cabinet.
Prime Minister Netanyahu faced demands from his nationalist-religious coalition partners, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir to be included in the war cabinet. Such a move would have heightened tensions with international allies, including the United States.
The war cabinet was originally formed when Gantz joined Netanyahu in a national unity government at the outset of the war in October. The cabinet also included Gantz’s partner Gadi Eisenkot and Aryeh Deri, head of the religious party Shas, as observers.
Both Gantz and Eisenkot left the government last week, citing Netanyahu’s failure to develop a strategy for the Gaza war as their reason for departure.
