ERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dissolved the six-member war cabinet, an Israeli official said on Monday, in a widely expected move that came after the departure from government of the centrist former general Benny Gantz.
Netanyahu had faced demands from the nationalist-religious partners in his coalition, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir to be included in the war cabinet, a move which would have intensified strains with international partners including the United States.
Reports on Monday said that 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 moderate 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 US, had called for a new war cabinet to be formed featuring coalition party leaders.