From lumberjack to footballer: this is Netanyahu’s five-member war cabinet

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October 7 will go down as a dark day in the history of Israel. As a result of the attacks by Hamas terrorists, more Jews died in one day than at any time since the Holocaust. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (73) had to respond quickly and called in more than 300,000 reservists this week.

The Israeli Armed Forces are among the twenty strongest in the world. This requires good leadership, especially in times of war. For this reason, the defenders formed a war cabinet on Wednesday evening. Blick introduces the five men who are now leading the fight against Hamas.

The Israeli prime minister and former elite soldier is under pressure. Under his leadership, Israel is currently living in hell. Netanyahu will have to prove that he can lead his country through these difficult times.

Before the attacks by Hamas terrorists, the 73-year-old announced a judicial reform aimed at defunding the Supreme Court. The project led to great resistance in Israel – which has now come to a standstill again due to the war. The timing of the Palestinian attacks is not entirely inconvenient for Netanyahu, at least politically.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant (64) is considered an absolute hardliner. According to Spiegel, he was a logger in Alaska, commander of the Israeli combat swimmers and general of the Southern Command. After the attacks, he announced on Monday: “We are putting the Gaza Strip completely under fire. No electricity, no food, no water – everything will be closed.” He was also the one who announced Israel’s major ground offensive on Wednesday.

Opposition leader Benny Gantz (64) is an old enemy of Yoav Gallant. He also does not have a very good relationship with Netanyahu: in 2019 he met him in the presidential elections. Gantz is the son of a Holocaust survivor and commanded Israeli forces in 2014 when they last invaded the Gaza Strip.

Gadi Eisenkot (63), the son of Moroccan immigrants, has been chief of the general staff of the Israeli army since 2015. He is considered the mastermind of the Dahija doctrine, an Israeli combat strategy. This was used to destroy Hezbollah terrorists’ infrastructure in Lebanon in 2006. Despite his military experience, he would only have observer status in the war cabinet.

As a former Israeli ambassador to the US, Ron Dermer (52) has no war experience. The 52-year-old was born in Miami and is considered a passionate footballer. He is currently Minister of Strategic Affairs.

It remains to be seen how successfully the cabinet will lead Israel through the war. The five men are confronted by three terrorists on the Hamas side who have only one goal: to brutally murder Jews.

More information about the war in Israel can be found in the ticker here.

Source: Blick