Former defense minister Yoav Gallant was combative Monday as he appeared before a Likud tribunal in Tel Aviv to respond to a petition to expel him from the party.

“Make no mistake — the discussion today is not about the future of Yoav Gallant. Today’s discussion is about whether we are continuing the path of Begin or the path of Ben Gvir,” Gallant told the Kan public broadcaster before entering the building, referring, respectively, to Likud founder former prime minister Menachem Begin, and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who leads the far-right Otzma Yehudit party.

Under Begin, Likud was founded as a hawkish but staunchly liberal party.

“I continue to hold the same positions and principles I have held all my life, and especially as a wartime defense minister,” Gallant said. “I am a member of Likud, and I came to fight for Likud.”

The petition to expel Gallant was filed about a year ago by activists associated with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, led by Talia Einhorn, whose son Yisrael Einhorn is a former Netanyahu aide implicated in the so-called Qatargate scandal.

The petition claims that as defense minister, Gallant “acted against the Likud party and undermined the leadership of the prime minister.”

Netanyahu and Gallant frequently clashed since the government took power at the end of 2022, with the prime minister firing him in March 2023........

© The Times of Israel