Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dissolved the six-member war cabinet, an
Israeli official said on Monday.
This move was widely expected and came after the departure from government of the centrist former general Benny Gantz.
It is worth noting that Gantz is the former chief of staff of the military, a high-profile role which is more influential in Israel than the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is in the United States, for example.
Netanyahu is now expected to hold consultations about the Gaza war with a small group of ministers, including Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer who had been in the war cabinet.
The Prime Minister had faced demands from the nationalist-religious partners in his coalition, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar
Ben-Gvir, to be included in the war cabinet, a move which would have intensified strains with international partners including the United States.
The forum was formed after Gantz joined Netanyahu in a national unity government at the start of the war in October and also included Gantz’s partner Gadi Eisenkot and Aryeh Deri, head of the religious party Shas, as observers.
Gantz and his fellow party member Eisenkot left the government recently, over what they said was Netanyahu’s failure to form a strategy for the Gaza war.
(With Inputs from Reuters)
