There have been regular rumours that he was on the way out but he refused to go, remaining a thorn in Netanyahu's side as he argued for a hostage deal in Gaza and clashed with other parties in the coalition over drafting members of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community into the military.

Yoav Gallant had emerged as one of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s fiercest and most public critics over his approach to the war in Gaza and the failure to reach a hostage deal with Hamas.