Israeli war cabinet | |
|---|---|
 Part (commission) of the37thCabinet of Israel | |
| Incumbent | |
 Ministers of the war cabinet at the meeting with theUS Secretary of StateAntony Blinken | |
| Date formed | 11 October 2023 (2023-10-11) |
| Date dissolved | 17 June 2024 (2024-06-17) |
| People and organisations | |
| President | Isaac Herzog |
| Prime minister | Benjamin Netanyahu |
| No. of ministers | 6 (incl. observers) |
| Member parties |
|
| Status in legislature | Majority(coalition) |
| Opposition parties |
|
| Opposition leader | Yair Lapid |
| History | |
| Election | 2022 Knesset election |
| Legislature terms | 25th Knesset |
| Incoming formation | Israeli government response to the October 7 attacks |
TheIsraeli war cabinet was formed on 11 October 2023, five days after the beginning of theGaza war.[1] The opposition partyNational Unity joined thethirty-seventh government led byBenjamin Netanyahu asprime minister. Negotiations began upon the outbreak of the war.[2]
On 13 June 2024, formerChiefs of the General StaffBenny Gantz andGadi Eisenkot exited the war cabinet,[3] leaving Netanyahu,Minister of DefenseYoav Gallant,Ron Dermer andAryeh Deri as its only members.[4] The cabinet was subsequently dissolved on 17 June.[5]
An armed conflict betweenIsrael andHamas-ledPalestinian militant groups[a] has been taking place since 7 October 2023. Part of the broaderGaza–Israel conflict and following an uptick of violence in theIsraeli–Palestinian conflict, the war began with amilitant incursion into Israel from theGaza Strip,[6][7] while the responding Israelicounteroffensive was named "Operation Swords of Iron" by theIsrael Defense Forces (IDF).[8]
Hostilities were initiated early in the morning witha rocket barrage of at least 3,000 missiles against Israel and vehicle-transported incursions into its territory.[9] Palestinian militants broke through theGaza–Israel barrier and forced their way through Gaza border crossings, attacking nearby Israeli communities andmilitary installations. At least 1,200 Israelis were killed, includinga massacre at a music festival where at least 260 civilians were killed. Israeli soldiers and civilians, including children and elderly, were taken hostage to the Gaza Strip.[10] Hamas abducted at least 199 people, taking hostage both Israelis and persons of several other nationalities.[11]
The war represents a tipping point in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict and the Gaza–Israel conflict, which followed a violent year that saw increased expansion ofIsraeli settlements and clashes inJenin,Al-Aqsa mosque,and Gaza, which killed almost 250 Palestinians and 36 Israelis;[b][14] Hamas cited these events as justification for the attack and called on Palestinians to join the fight to "expel the occupiers and demolish the walls".[15][16][17] In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared states of emergency and war, vowing a "mighty vengeance for this dark day".[18]
Among opposition parties,Yesh Atid leader and former prime ministerYair Lapid, National Unity chairman Benny Gantz,Yisrael Beiteinu party leaderAvigdor Lieberman andLabor Party leaderMerav Michaeli issued a joint statement expressing full backing for the IDF and unity with the government, saying: "In times like these, there is no opposition and coalition in Israel."[19][20]
Netanyahu proposed that Yesh Atid and National Unity enter an emergency unity government with hisLikud-led coalition,[21] after Lapid urged Netanyahu put "aside our differences and form an emergency, narrow, professional government". Lapid said that Israel could not effectively manage the war with "the extreme and dysfunctional composition ofthe current cabinet" and called upon Netanyahu to eject the far-rightReligious Zionist Party andOtzma Yehudit parties as a condition for Yesh Atid to join an emergency unity government.[22]
The National Unity party met with Likud on 9 October to discuss a possible unity government, with National Unity likely to join such an arrangement.[23] Likud said the emergency unity government would be similar to the one formed before theSix-Day War in 1967.Levi Eshkol and then-opposition leaderMenachem Begin joined hands for the duration of the War in thethirteenth government of Israel.[24]
The National Unity party agreed to join the government on 11 October.[25] Lapid's Yesh Atid party ultimately did not join the war cabinet,[26] with Lapid citing three issues: the inclusion of officials who failed to prevent the Hamas onslaught that precipitated the war, the continued inclusion of "extremists" in the government (a reference to National Security MinisterItamar Ben Gvir and Finance MinisterBezalel Smotrich, who are both on the far-right and sit on theSecurity Cabinet of Israel), and the simultaneous existence of a War Cabinet and Security Cabinet that Lapid predicted would be unworkable and insufficient. Lapid said he would support the war effort from outside the government.[27]
The formation of the war cabinet was approved by the Knesset on 12 October.[27] The composition of the preexisting government was modified: MKs voted, 66–4, to approve the addition of five National Unity ministers (Gantz,Gadi Eisenkot,Gideon Sa'ar,Hili Tropper, andYifat Shasha-Biton) to the government asministers without portfolio, and unanimously voted to remove the health portfolio from Interior MinisterMoshe Arbel and elevateUriel Buso of theShas party to the post of health minister.[27]
As part of the deal, Netanyahu and Gantz also agreed to freeze all new non-war, non-emergency legislation, including the highly controversialjudicial overhaul legislation, and agreed that the war cabinet would meet at least once every 48 hours.[27] The war cabinet had the authority to "update, as necessary, military and strategic aims for the conflict" but its decisions were subject to approval from the Security Cabinet of Israel.[28]
On 16 October, Netanyahu's Likud party announced thatYisrael Beiteinu, led byAvigdor Lieberman, had agreed to join the emergency government. However, later the same day, Lieberman denied reaching an agreement with the government, saying that the offer to join the Security Cabinet was insufficient. Lieberman said that he wanted a seat on the smaller war cabinet instead. He said his party would "continue to support the government's actions that are meant to eliminate Hamas and Hamas leaders" but that he had "no intention of being the 38th minister in the government and be used as afig leaf."[29]
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In the original configuration, there were three members and two observers[30][31] with only the members having voting rights,[32] though the size of the war cabinet was reduced to four members in June 2024,[33] until its dissolution later that month.
Dermer and Deri are considered to be "confidants" of Netanyahu.[32]
| Portfolio | Minister | Party | Status | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prime Minister | Benjamin Netanyahu | Likud | Chair | |
| Minister of Defense | Yoav Gallant | Likud | Member | |
| Minister without portfolio | Benny Gantz | National Unity | Member | |
| Minister of Strategic Affairs | Ron Dermer | Independent[c] | Observer Member | |
| Minister without portfolio | Gadi Eisenkot | National Unity | Observer | |
| Minister without portfolio | Aryeh Deri | Shas | Observer Member | |
Sa'ar announced in March that he was leaving the National Unity alliance and called to be appointed to the war cabinet, to which Gantz expressed opposition.[35] In addition, though Netanyahu was "open" to Sa'ar's appointment, Ben-Gvir demanded that he also be appointed. On 25 March 2024, Sa'ar quit the coalition.[31]
On 9 June 2024, Gantz and Eisenkot resigned from the cabinet because Netanyahu did not present a post-war plan for Gaza by the previous day, meeting a previously announced deadline.[36] On 17 June 2024, the dissolution of the war cabinet was announced, which, according to observers, was done in order to quash the demands of Ben-Gvir and Finance MinisterBezalel Smotrich that they be given seats in the cabinet.[5]
"Today the people are regaining their revolution," Hamas military commander Muhammad Deif said in a recorded message, as he called on Palestinians from East Jerusalem to northern Israel to join the fight and "expel the occupiers and demolish the walls."
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