Channel 13 TV said Netanyahu had also taken advantage of the U.S. election, when American attention is focused elsewhere, to dismiss his rival.

Gallant is a vicious war hawk, whose disagreements with Netanyahu are over how best to assert Zionism’s interests militarily.

On Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who has sometimes challenged Netanyahu politically, and replaced him with a minister more loyal to Netanyahu in a major shakeup of Israeli leadership 13 months into their genocide in Gaza.