Deri trying to convince Netanyahu to keep Gallant as defense minister

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant met with Shas Chairman Arye Deri on Wednesday evening, and the two discussed the attempts to convince Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cancel Gallant's dismissal.

Deri is one of the main people pressuring Netanyahu to change his mind, as is Minister Dudi Amsalem who is close with Gallant.

According to sources from the Likud, Netanyahu sent out messages with demands for Gallant to apologize for his statement against the judicial reform and to resign from Knesset so that he cannot vote against it when the reform legislation is renewed.

Deri is trying to mediate between Netanyahu and Gallant and to find a way for the latter to remain in his position. According to sources familiar with the affair, there is an option for Gallant to apologize for the statement he made while Netanyahu was out of the country where he warned about the judicial reform.

Deri met with IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi last Friday and hear from him about assessments and threats about the functionality of the IDF if the reform passes. 

Why was Gallant fired?

On Saturday night, Gallant came out against the continued legislation of the judicial reform in the public statement he had made on the subject.

"The judicial system needs to change - the relationship between the authorities needs to be corrected, but still, significant national changes must be made with negotiations," he said. 

As a result of the statement, Netanyahu announced that he was firing Gallant as defense minister the next day.

Gallant called for dialogue between the two sides and warned the public about the order refusal among reservists.

"I said this in closed discussions in the last few weeks," he had said. "At this moment, we must stop the legislation and sit down to talk. Now I say this in my voice - for the sake of Israel's safety, we have to stop the legislation, allow the people of Israel to celebrate Passover and Independence Day and mourn together on Memorial Day. We must stop the protestors and stop the calls to refuse orders. For our security, it's our duty."

Gallant's statement was received with mixed reactions from MKs and ministers from the Likud. MKs David Bitan and Yuli Edelstein supported Gallant's words while other MKs and ministers in the party attacked him and called for him to be fired. Also, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called for Gallant to be fired.