Sources close to Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter have stated that he will not seek to become Defense Minister after the previous Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, was dismissed from his position by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday.
The sources told Channel 12 News that Dichter is attempting to bring about a compromise between Netanyahu and Gallant that would allow the defense minister’s dismissal to be rescinded.
Netanyahu has not yet sent an official letter to Gallant formalizing his dismissal as he is required to do under the law.
The prime minister was outraged by the press conference Gallant held on Saturday night in which he called on the government to freeze its judicial reform legislation to prevent a deterioration of the IDF’s capabilities, and fired him the next day. On Monday Netanyahu announced that the judicial reform legislation would be frozen until the next Knesset session to allow for negotiations with the opposition on the reforms.
Netanyahu and Gallant met yesterday (Tuesday) for a security discussion but did not discuss the issue of the minister’s dismissal at all. However, Gallant decided not to vote this week with the coalition on the state budget in the Knesset and was absent from the vote.