Netanyahu dissolves war cabinet to increase grip on decision making

Benjamin Netanyahu has dissolved the Israeli war cabinet overseeing the conflict in with Hamas in Gaza in a move aimed at increasing his grip on decision making.

The Israeli Prime Minister announced the move to ministers on Monday following the resignation from the cabinet by Benny Gantz.

Without Gantz – who with his national unity party had joined an emergency coalition after the October 7th attacks – Netanyahu argued the war cabinet was no longer needed.

The PM is now expected to discuss future military activity with a small group of ministers, including the defence minister, Yoav Gallant, and the strategic affairs minister Ron Dermer.

Reports from Israel suggest that by dissolving the war cabinet Netanyahu has sidelined far-right figures and there will be no initial involvement in the discussions for national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

There are also claims that Netanyahu has the military have clashed over major issues recently.

On Sunday reports said the Israeli PM had criticised plans announced by the military to hold daily tactical pauses in fighting along one of the main roads into Gaza to facilitate the delivery of aid.

The limited pause in Rafah was announced after talks with Egypt and pressure from the US to increase the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

The IDF said the pause was being coordinated with the UN and international aid agencies.

Israeli television later quoted Netanyahu as criticising the military, saying: “We have a country with an army, not an army with a country.”

It was also reported on Sunday that Netanyahu told the regular meeting of the full cabinet that “in order to reach the goal of eliminating the capabilities of Hamas ” decisions were made “that were not always acceptable to the military echelon”.