(5 Nov 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
++NIGHT SHOTS++
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Tel Aviv, Israel – 5 November 2024
1. Various of demonstrators blocking Ayalon highway with a bonfire in Tel Aviv, UPSOUND (Hebrew): "You (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu) are the head, you are guilty."
2. Demonstrators blocking traffic, UPSOUND (Hebrew): "Hostages in Gaza… and blood on the government’s hands."
3. Close of bonfire, demonstrators chanting
4. Various of highway blocked with traffic, demonstrators with Israeli flags
STORYLINE:
Protesters blocked a highway in Tel Aviv on Tuesday after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed his popular defense minister, Yoav Gallant in a surprise announcement earlier in the evening.
Netanyahu and Gallant have repeatedly been at odds over the war in Gaza. But Netanyahu had avoided firing his rival.
Netanyahu cited “significant gaps” and a “crisis of trust” between the men in his Tuesday evening announcement.
In the early days of the war, Israel’s leadership presented a unified front as it responded to Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack.
But as the war has dragged on and spread to Lebanon, key policy differences have emerged.
While Netanyahu has called for continued military pressure on Hamas, Gallant had taken a more pragmatic approach, saying that military force has created the necessary conditions for at least a temporary diplomatic deal that could bring home hostages held by the militant group.
Many of the families of the hostages, along with tens of thousands of people who have joined anti-government protests, accuse Netanyahu of scuttling a deal in order to maintain his hold on power.
Netanyahu’s hard-line partners have threatened to bring down the government if he makes concessions to Hamas, raising the risk of early elections at a time when the prime minister’s popularity is low.
Opposition groups called for mass protests late Tuesday.
The grassroots forum representing hostage families said Gallant’s dismissal is “a direct continuation of the ‘efforts’ to torpedo the abductee deal.”
It called on the new defense minister, Israel Katz, to make an “explicit commitment” to end the war and reach a deal to bring home their loved ones.
Gallant, a former general who has gained public respect with a gruff, no-nonsense personality, said in a statement: “The security of the state of Israel always was, and will always remain, my life’s mission."
Gallant has worn a simple, black buttoned shirt throughout the war in a sign of sorrow over the Oct. 7 attack and developed a strong relationship with his U.S. counterpart, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
A previous attempt by Netanyahu to fire Gallant in March 2023 sparked widespread street protests against Netanyahu.
He also flirted with the idea of dismissing Gallant over the summer but held off until Tuesday’s announcement.
Katz, his replacement, currently serves as foreign minister and is a longtime Netanyahu loyalist and veteran Cabinet minister.
AP video shot by Ami Ben Tov
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