Israel defence minister Yaalon resigns in ‘extremist’ spat with PM Netanyahu

Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon resigned yesterday, charging that extremists had taken over the government after he clashed repeatedly with hardline ministers over the army’s handling of Palestinian violence.

Yaalon said he no longer had any trust in Benjamin Netanyahu after the prime minister offered his post to a hardliner loathed by the Palestinians, in a bid to expand the governing coalition’s majority.

The surprise move by the respected former armed forces chief comes after a series of disputes over the military’s values and role in society between ministers in Netanyahu’s government and top generals backed by Yaalon.

“I told the prime minister this morning that due to his conduct in recent developments, and in light of my lack of trust in him, I am resigning from the government and Knesset [parliament] and taking a break from political life,” Yaalon said on Twitter.

His resignation comes two days after former foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman said he would be open to bringing his far-right Yisrael Beitenu party into Netanyahu’s governing coalition if a number of conditions were met, including being named defence minister. That condition looked likely to be met as Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party pressed talks with Yisrael Beitenu yesterday on the terms of a deal to boost the coalition’s wafer-thin majority in parliament.