Israel Business Leaders Urge Netanyahu to Keep Defense Chief Gallant 

 Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant is received by US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin (not pictured) at the Pentagon in Washington, US, June 25, 2024. (Reuters)
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant is received by US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin (not pictured) at the Pentagon in Washington, US, June 25, 2024. (Reuters)
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Israel Business Leaders Urge Netanyahu to Keep Defense Chief Gallant 

 Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant is received by US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin (not pictured) at the Pentagon in Washington, US, June 25, 2024. (Reuters)
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant is received by US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin (not pictured) at the Pentagon in Washington, US, June 25, 2024. (Reuters)

Israel's Business Forum on Tuesday urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to not fire his defense minister, saying it would create more division and weaken the country after reports of an imminent political shake-up rattled the country.

Israel's leading television channels and news websites have reported that Netanyahu, under pressure from far-right coalition partners, was contemplating firing Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and replacing him with a former ally turned rival, Gideon Saar, who is currently a member of the opposition.

The forum, which consists of 200 heads of Israel's largest companies that employ many private sector workers, said Netanyahu should stop "messing around with petty politics" during a war.

"Immediately stop the process of replacing (Gallant)," the forum said in a statement. "The firing of the minister weakens Israel in the eyes of her enemies, and will further deepen the division in the people of Israel."

Such a move would be a shock to the political and security landscape, especially as the war with Hamas in Gaza rages on and with the looming threat of all-out war between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Netanyahu denied that he was in negotiations with Saar, though he did not refer to his plans for Gallant. Saar denied that he was negotiating with some members of the coalition.

"The prime minister knows better than anyone that all the economic indicators also prove that Israel is deteriorating into an economic abyss and sinking into a deep recession," the forum said. "The last thing Israel needs at this time is the firing of a defense minister - which will continue to shock the country."

On Monday, official data showed the economy grew an annualized 0.7% in the second quarter, revised down from a prior estimate of 1.2%. On a per capita basis, the economy contracted 0.9% in the quarter.

In March 2023, Netanyahu fired Gallant after he broke ranks with the government and urged a halt to a highly contested plan to overhaul the judicial system. That triggered mass protests and Netanyahu backtracked.



Russia Hits Civilian and Critical Infrastructure, Injures 10 in Ukraine

A woman stands in the backyard of her house destroyed by a Russian airstrike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine October 10, 2024. REUTERS/Stringer
A woman stands in the backyard of her house destroyed by a Russian airstrike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine October 10, 2024. REUTERS/Stringer
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Russia Hits Civilian and Critical Infrastructure, Injures 10 in Ukraine

A woman stands in the backyard of her house destroyed by a Russian airstrike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine October 10, 2024. REUTERS/Stringer
A woman stands in the backyard of her house destroyed by a Russian airstrike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine October 10, 2024. REUTERS/Stringer

Attacks by Russian forces on Ukraine overnight and on Thursday across the country hit civilian and critical infrastructure facilities, injuring at least 10 people, Ukrainian authorities said.
Russia launched two ballistic missiles on the southern city of Mykolaiv in the early afternoon, targeting critical infrastructure, regional Governor Vitaliy Kim said.
Two people were wounded and a piece of equipment destroyed, he said in televised comments, without giving more details.
Russian troops also shelled Kherson and damaged energy equipment, according to Roman Mrochko, head of the southern city's military administration. Several settlements and part of the city were facing power outages, he said.
Separately, a flurry of Russian guided bombs early in the morning injured six people, including a 17-year-old girl, and damaged 29 buildings in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia, its regional governor Ivan Fedorov, said.
Ukraine's air force said on the Telegram messaging app that it had downed 41 out of 62 drones launched by Russia. Russian forces also launched eight missiles, it added, while 14 drones were "locationally lost".
"As a result of the Russian missile and drone attacks civilian objects and critical infrastructure facilities in the Odesa, Poltava and Donetsk regions were hit," Reuters quoted it as saying.
A drone attack on the central city of Kryvyi Rih injured two people and damaged a five-storey residential building, causing a fire, Dnipropetrovsk region governor, Serhiy Lysak, said.
The emergency services rescued seven people from the damaged part of the building and put out the fire at the site, he added.
Separately, a cruise missile attack late on Wednesday damaged a storage area at an infrastructure facility in the southern Ukrainian region of Mykolaiv, causing a blaze that was later extinguished, the governor said.
Regional authorities also reported late on Wednesday that a ballistic missile attack had hit port infrastructure in the Odesa region, killing eight people and damaging a Panama-flagged container ship.