Following the murderous terror attack that killed four Jewish civilians at a gas station outside Eli in Samaria, right-wing activists began calling for the resignation of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant (Likud).
The Torat Lehima group conveyed this message to the minister: “You failed, go home. Once again Jews were murdered by terrorists using IDF weapons. A terrorist was eliminated by a hero resident who was there with his children, and shot the terrorist with his personal gun while seeking contact.”
“This is an intolerable reality,” the group’s statement continued. “The area is flooded with tens of thousands of terrorists armed with weapons––including weapons that were stolen from the IDF––the hornets’ nests of terrorism are swarming, Jewish blood is spilled like water, and Defense Minister Gallant and [Commander of the IDF Central Command] Major General Fuchs refuse to dry up the terror swamp.”
Im Tirtzu issued a statement saying, “It is no longer possible to accept the explanations of the defense establishment and the defense minister. We must launch a large-scale military operation in Judea and Samaria, now! The numerous explanations about international public opinion and harming innocent bystanders were not heard last year [under the Lapid-Bennett government], and as we know, the situation on the ground has not changed and neither has public opinion. The safety of the citizens of Israel must not be neglected.”
Religious Zionism MK Tzvi Sukkot, who arrived at the scene shortly after the attack, said: “Unfortunately, a terrible and difficult incident happened again on our watch. We shout from every stage: we must collect the illegal weapons, we must carry out a broad operation – it must happen today, we can no longer pay this terrible price.”
On March 25, while PM Netanyahu was away on a state visit to the UK, and despite his promise not to make announcements while Netanyahu was away, Gallant took the podium in prime time and called for an immediate halt to the judicial reform, citing the “widening rift in society that also permeates the IDF and the security agencies.” Defense Minister Gallant neglected to mention that some of this rift was caused by IDF reservists who threatened not to show up if called to serve – whom he, Gallact, neglected to punish.
In response to the unauthorized speech, Prime Minister Netanyahu on March 26 announced his intention to fire Gallant. But the well-organized spontaneous protest in response scared Netanyahu enough to avoid making good on his announcement.
Since then, Gallant has operated as a copy & paste version of his lackluster predecessors, Benny Gantz, Moshe Yaalon, and Ehud Barak, positioning himself as an enemy of the settlement enterprise. They say it’s the water in the Kirya in Tel Aviv, where the defense ministry is located.
