JERUSALEM, Sept 17 (Askume) – Israel on Tuesday added the safe return of its citizens to their homes near the Lebanese border to its official war goals, amid reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to replace his defence minister with a staunch rival.
Netanyahu’s office said he laid out war aims at a security cabinet meeting overnight.
Almost daily fighting between Israeli forces and Lebanese Hezbollah has displaced thousands of people from towns and villages on both sides of the border.
The war in the Gaza Strip began on October 7 when the Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked Israel. A day later, Iran-backed Hezbollah opened a second front against Israel. Fighting has intensified on the border between Israel and Lebanon.
A statement from Netanyahu’s office said: “The Security Cabinet has updated the war goals, which include the following: The safe return of northern residents to their homes. Israel will continue to take actions to achieve this goal.”
Israel has said it prefers a diplomatic solution that would keep Hezbollah away from its borders.
However, Hezbollah has also said it wants to avoid a full-scale conflict and says fighting can only be stopped by ending the war in Gaza. Attempts at a Gaza ceasefire have stalled after months of talks brokered by Qatar, Egypt and the United States.
Shortly after the Security Cabinet meeting, the Israel Broadcasting Corporation reported that Netanyahu and Gideon Saar were close to finalizing a deal under which Saar would replace Yoav Galant as Defense Minister.
Saar, a former justice minister, has criticized the government’s war policy over the past few months and said the government should be more proactive and take decisive action against Israel’s enemies, including Iran.
Saar has been critical of the deal with Hamas to end the conflict in Gaza, while Galante is pushing for a ceasefire that would include the swap of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners in Gaza.
By adding Saar’s four factions to his coalition, Netanyahu would strengthen his political position, as he would be less dependent on other allies.
It would also ease two political dilemmas facing Netanyahu: passing a state budget and a new conscription law that would be acceptable to his ultra-Orthodox coalition partners, who want to keep religious Zionist seminary students out of the military.
During his tenure as Defense Minister, Galante often took an independent stance against Netanyahu.
He believes Netanyahu’s oft-repeated goal of “total victory” in Gaza is nonsense. Galante also called for a clear post-war plan for the Palestinian-ruled enclave.
Last year, amid protests over Netanyahu’s push to limit the powers of the Supreme Court, Galante broke with tradition and spoke out against a plan that he said had created so many deep social divisions that it endangered national security.
Netanyahu sacked him, but backed down after Israelis took to the streets in one of the largest protests in the country’s history.
