Former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s resignation from parliament formally took effect on Sunday, Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana announced.
Afef Abed, a member of Israel’s Druze minority, took Gallant’s seat in the Knesset on behalf of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling Likud Party following Gallant’s departure, Ohana said in a statement.
Ohana (Likud) said he met Abed on Sunday morning at the Knesset building in Jerusalem, wished him success and congratulated him on the new position.
Abed, 50, from the Druze community of Yarka in the Galilee, received the 43rd spot on the Likud list in the Nov. 1, 2022, Knesset election. He is the first Druze MK in Netanyahu’s current coalition.
Abed is reportedly close to Netanyahu, serves as a member of the Likud secretariat and was once the deputy chairman of its youth movement.
Israel’s Ynet outlet cited the incoming Druze lawmaker as previously having expressed support for the 2018 nation-state law, which formally defined the Jewish state as “the nation-state of the Jewish people.”
“I don’t think anything has changed, with or without the nation-state law,” Abed was quoted as having told reporters. “I don’t see a problem with it.”
Gallant announced his resignation from parliament in a national address on the night of Jan 1., some two months after being fired by Netanyahu.
Gallant said in his speech that he was staying within the Likud Party. “The way of the Likud is my way,” the legislator claimed. “I will continue to fight for the national, ideological and Zionist path of the Likud movement.”
Gallant, who Netanyahu removed as defense minister on Nov. 5, said the reason for his dismissal was his insistence on the need for everyone in Israeli society to serve in the army, including the haredim, or ultra-Orthodox, many of whom are exempted from military service as full-time yeshivah students.
But, Netanyahu had previously attempted to fire Gallant in April of 2023, when Gallant called to stop the Judicial Reform program that the coalition was trying to pass, while sources close to Netanyahu said it was because of Gallant’s weak stance against the leftwing calls to not do army service. At that time, Netanyahu was forced to retract due to leftwing protests and strikes.
