Israel’s Netanyahu dissolves war cabinet

Decision follows resignation of centrist Gantz; will disappoint hardliners angling to expand influence on war in Gaza.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced the end of Israel’s six-member war cabinet.

Reports on Monday said the Israeli leader had announced the decision at a meeting of the political security cabinet the previous evening. Netanyahu’s far-right coalition partners have been pushing for a new war cabinet to be established after the more centrist Benny Gantz quit the emergency government.

Nationalist-religious Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who have demanded Israel must continue its bombardment of Gaza despite calls for some restraint from allies including the United States, had called for a new war cabinet to be formed featuring coalition party leaders.

However, Netanyahu has reportedly turned them down.

“The cabinet was in the coalition agreement with Gantz, at his request. As soon as Gantz left – there is no need for a cabinet any more,” Netanyahu said, according to a report in The Jerusalem Post.