Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is exploiting political upheaval in the US to stuff his cabinet with yes-men.
Netanyahu, foreseeing the Democrats' defeat in the US elections, decided to sack Yaov Gallant as defence minister to install loyalists in key cabinet positions, Tel Aviv-based international relations expert Dr Simon Tsipis told Sputnik.
"Now that the Democrats have lost this power, Netanyahu has received a second wind. I assume that he will continue to fire all Biden supporters, and will attract people from his clan to government positions," Tsipis said.
Netanyahu fired Gallant as defense minister late on Tuesday night, with the US elections underway, replacing him with foreign minister Israel Katz.
“He appointed Gideon Saar to replace Katz, who was the minister of foreign affairs. Saar is Netanyahu's man, as is Katz," he added. "He is putting together his clique, he is putting together his circles, so he will gradually get rid of those protégés of the Democrats."
The expert believes the political split in Israel has already intensified after Galant’s dismissal — and only a conflict with Iran could heal it.
"We already had demonstrations yesterday, there were even clashes with the police. I suppose these clashes will be growing in the near future, I mean anti-government clashes against Netanyahu," Tsipis said. "His opponents are calling on everyone to go out into the streets and confront the PM and his administration."
The pundit argued that the only thing that would stop the protests was the escalation of Israel's conflicts with its neighbors into a full-scale war.
"I assume in the coming days Netanyahu may strike Iran. In this way, he will calm the Israeli street down, and Trump will support an attack on Iran," Tsipis said. "We have now reached a situation where an attack on Iran from Israel is most likely."
But Tsipis noted that Galant had already won the support of the officer corps of the Israeli army and that by his dismissal, Netanyahu has only united the security forces bloc against him.
"Now the head of Mossad, the head of internal security of the Shin Bet and the chief of the General Staff — they all now suspect that they too are under threat of dismissal, they will now unite together," he said. "We have a security forces bloc emerging against the Netanyahu bloc".
Gallant gave reporters three reasons for his sacking at a press conference on Tuesday: the refusal of some Jewish sects to serve in the armed forces, his own failure to free hostages taken by Hamas on October 7 2023 and the findings of the inquiry into the Palestinian group's foray from the Gaza Strip and the subsequent war in the territory.