Netanyahu Reinstates Def Min As Security Threats Increase

Late on 10 April, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that he would be reinstating Yoav Gallant to the position of defence minister. The move comes as security threats in Israel increase, with rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip, Syria and Lebanon taking place in recent days, as well as a shooting in the West Bank that killed three British-Israeli citizens from the same family.

• Gallant was relieved of his ministerial post several weeks ago after he publicly criticised Netanyahu's proposed judicial reforms, which have brought mass protests onto the streets of Israel and sparked a backlash from the country's business community and international partners.
• Palestinian militants have claimed responsibility for the attacks, with concerns in the Israeli gov't that the various groups opposing Israel's gov't/presence (Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Iran) could unite to launch a comprehensive wave of attacks on Israeli population centres.
• The judicial reforms have been pushed back to the summer parliamentary term. However, with protesters demanding their full cancellation, there remains the prospect of Netanyahu dealing with both domestic political unrest and broader security threats at the same time. This in turn could see either the gov't backing down on reforms in order to focus its energies on security issues, or somewhat erratic policy-making as the gov't attempts to deal with two major issues at the same time.