Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired his Defense Minister Yoav Gallant Tuesday in a surprise move that triggered large-scale protests across Israel. Gallant had publicly disagreed with Netanyahu over a temporary deal to exchange Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners; he also insisted Israel carry out a full investigation into the failures that led to Hamas’s October 7 attack — something Netanyahu rejected. Netanyahu appointed Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz to succeed Gallant. Katz recently led a successful campaign to cancel Israel’s agreements with the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA. Earlier this year, he proposed creating an artificial island off Gaza’s coast where Palestinians could be forcibly relocated. In August, Katz called for the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, declaring, “This is a war on all fronts, and we must win it.” On Tuesday, protests erupted in Jerusalem near Netanyahu’s official residence calling for the prime minister to resign. Meanwhile, tens of thousands marched in Tel Aviv, where protesters blocked a major highway.

Itamar Berger: “We believe it has never ever been this urgent. We believe the worst threat on the very existence of the state of Israel is not posed by Iran or Hezbollah or Hamas, but by our own government. Our own government is doing whatever is within its power to destroy us from within.”