The Israeli newspaper Maariv reported that the most important reason for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's move to appoint the head of the Right-Wing Party, Gideon Sa'ar, as Minister of Defense instead of Yoav Galant, is to pave the way for the Knesset to implement the decision regarding the recruitment of religious Jews (Haredi), which Galant opposes.

The newspaper's political correspondent, Anna Brasky, said that Netanyahu's expected decision comes amid disagreements with Galant, and amid internal pressures facing Netanyahu, most notably the threat of the ultra-Orthodox to dismantle the government coalition if he does not approve exempting their sons from military service in the Israeli army.

Netanyahu's fear complex

"The reasons that led Netanyahu to conclude that the time had come to move toward Sa'ar are clear and well-known and arose a few months ago, but they matured last week after Netanyahu became certain that the benefits of Sa'ar joining the government would outweigh the harm inherent in this move," Brasky added.

Brasky revealed that despite the previous sharp differences between Netanyahu and Galant, the threat of the ultra-Orthodox to dismantle the government was the decisive reason that prompted Netanyahu to dismiss Galant.

A veteran political source who has known Netanyahu for many years was quoted as saying, “Fear is what makes Netanyahu make decisions. When he starts to believe that something is really threatening him, he stops suppressing and starts bargaining.”

According to the newspaper, the person who led the threats was Yitzhak Goldknopf, head of the Israel Association, Minister of Construction and Housing, and head of the United Torah Judaism party, a coalition of three hardline Israeli Ashkenazi right-wing religious parties that call for the establishment of a Jewish state led by religious laws.

A senior leader in the ultra-Orthodox factions was quoted as saying, “We are certain that Defense Minister Galant is the main, and perhaps the only, obstacle to the bill’s passage, and that anyone who replaces Galant as defense minister will be better for the bill than him, and that Sa’ar, unlike Galant, is a pragmatic and cold politician who also has no interest in harming us.” Brasky concluded her article by pointing out that the decision to replace Galant with Sa’ar reflects Netanyahu’s ongoing efforts to ensure the stability of his government and avoid any political shocks that could weaken his position in the coming period, especially with the increasing internal criticism of the government’s management of security and political crises.

Source: Israeli press