Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dissolved the war cabinet on Sunday in an attempt to defuse demands by the far-right members of his coalition to be included in what has been a small forum that has charted the direction of the Gaza war since October 7.
The war cabinet, which served as an alternative forum to the security cabinet, had been created to satisfy the demands of National Unity party head Benny Gantz, who made it a requirement for entry into a national unity government at the start of the war.
"The cabinet was in the coalition agreement with Gantz at his request,” Netanyahu reportedly told the Security Cabinet. “As soon as Gantz left - there was no need for a cabinet anymore," Netanyahu explained.
Instead, the statutory security cabinet will convene at a higher frequency, and Netanyahu will also hold ad-hoc "security consultations" when necessary, a spokesperson for the prime minister's office said.
The move is seen by most observers as Netanyahu's strategy of deflecting the demand by National Security Minister Ben-Gvir (Otzma Yehudit) and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich (Religious Zionist Party) to be added to the war cabinet.
Both Ben-Gvir and Smotrich are members of the larger security cabinet, and the prime minister had previously refrained from bringing some sensitive information to the security cabinet out of fear of leaks. It remains to be seen how the new mechanism will operate in this regard.
Ben-Gvir and Smotrich hardline views on Palestinians and their desire to reoccupy Gaza for Jewish settlement, make them highly controversial politicians in the international arena,
It was hoped that a war cabinet, which by-passed them, would give greater international legitimacy to Israel’s decisions regarding the war, and signaled an intention for moderation. Domestic concerns had also been raised even prior to the war about the presence of the two politicians in the security cabinet.
Ben-Gvir and Smotrich demand more
Smotrich and Ben-Gvir both criticized the war cabinet in recent months, arguing that it was not acting aggressively enough against Hamas in Gaza and against Hezbollah on Israel's northern border.
Both have advocated a full-scale invasion into southern Lebanon that would include capturing territory.
A member of Smotrich's party and a member of Ben-Gvir's party even announced on Monday that on Tuesday they will convene the Knesset caucus on Jewish resettlement of Gaza. Netanyahu has stated publicly that this is not Israel's policy.
In addition, Israel's arguments in the accusation of genocide brought by South Africa in the International Court of Justice were that public statements by members of Smotrich and Ben-Gvir's parties, among others, were not indicative of Israeli policy or tactics, since policy is set by the war cabinet alone.
The war cabinet had included Gantz and fellow National Unity Minister Gadi Eisenkot, as well as Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer. Shas chairman MK Aryeh Deri was an observer at the war cabinet meetings as well.
It’s expected, however, that Netanyahu will continue to make decisions in consultation with Gallant, Dermer and Deri, simply without the formal framework of the war cabinet.
Tensions, however, have been high between Gallant and Netanyahu.
During the government plenum's weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday, Netanyahu said that "in order to reach the goal of eliminating the capabilities of Hamas, [I] made decisions that were not always acceptable to the military echelon."
"We have a country with an army and not an army with a country," the prime minister said.