Israeli PM dissolves war cabinet tasked with steering war in Gaza

It follows departure of of Benny Gantz

Israeli officials have said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dissolved the influential war cabinet that was tasked with steering the war in Gaza.

The war cabinet was dissolved following the departure from the government of Benny Gantz, an opposition legislator who had joined the coalition in the early days of the war.

He had demanded that a small cabinet be formed as a way to side-line far-right legislators in Mr Netanyahu’s government.

Mr Gantz, Mr Netanyahu and defence minister Yoav Gallant were its members and made key decisions together throughout the war.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the change with the media, said that going forward Mr Netanyahu would hold smaller forums with some of his government members for sensitive issues.

The War Cabinet was formed in the early days of the war, when Mr Gantz, then an opposition party leader and Netanyahu rival, joined the coalition in a show of unity following the October 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel.

The move to scrap the war cabinet comes as Israel faces more pivotal decisions.

Published: 17/06/2024 by Radio NewsHub