Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dissolved the six-member wartime cabinet. An Israeli official reported this information on Monday (June 17). A group of analysts had predicted the collapse of the cabinet after centrist former general Benny Gantz resigned. British news agency Reuters reported this news.
Netanyahu is expected to consult on the Gaza war with a small group of other ministers, including Defense Minister Yoav Galant and War Cabinet Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer.
The prime minister was being pressured by the nationalist-religious partners in his coalition to include Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gavir in the War Cabinet. It is a move that will strain Netanyahu’s relationship with international partners, including the United States.
Gantz joined Netanyahu in a national unity government at the start of the war in October. After this the cabinet was formed. Gantz then included his partner Gadi Eisenkot and Aryeh Deri, the head of the religious party Shas, as observers.
Both Gantz and Eisenkot left the government last week over Netanyahu’s failure to develop a strategy for the Gaza war.
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