Major General Yoav Galant, the former commander of the Southern Command in the Israeli army, revealed his attempts to press for a vote of no confidence against the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu among Knesset members of the Likud party. However, he described some Knesset members as “cowards.”
According to what was reported by the Israeli newspaper Maariv, Galant criticized the current government for being bloated, comprising over 30 ministers and deputy ministers with budgets that were unrelated to anything substantial.
The former Southern Command chief accused Netanyahu of “lies and nonsense” that led Israel to the International Court of Justice in The Hague. “Look at the number of Knesset members and ministers in this coalition whose statements were cited in The Hague on that day. There’s no leadership here; Netanyahu is essentially running an election campaign,” he said.
Galant also shared that he tried to lobby for a vote of no confidence by 5 to 8 Likud Knesset members but ultimately deemed them “simply cowards. They tell you in private conversations: ‘Yes, we need to do this. Israeli society cannot continue to be divided and torn apart.’ But all eight were simply afraid of being ostracized within Likud.”
He added that Netanyahu is suspicious of his defense minister—referring to Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir—and skeptical of all his ministers, not allowing anyone to do anything. “The people he does allow to act do so because he fears the dissolution of the coalition and the extremists,” referring to the current Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Ben-Gvir.
