- Title: Netanyahu says Yaalon quit after losing Defence Ministry
- Date: 20th May 2016
- Summary: JERUSALEM (FILE) (REUTERS) NETANYAHU ARRIVING AT WEEKLY CABINET MEETING VARIOUS OF YAALON AND NETANYAHU AT CABINET MEETING
- Embargoed: 4th June 2016 14:06
- Keywords: Israel politics Benjamin Netanyahu Yaalon Defence Minister
- Location: JERUSALEM
- City: JERUSALEM
- Country: Israel
- Topics: Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA0024IM48XZ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Hours after Israel's outgoing Defence Minister, Moshe Yaalon resigned, Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu released a video statement on Friday (May 20) rebuffing his censures.
Yaalon resigned earlier on Friday saying the nation was being taken over by "extremist and dangerous elements" after Netanyahu moved to replace him with a far-right politician in an effort to strengthen his coalition.
Netanyahu, who doubles as foreign minister, said that he had offered the top diplomatic post to Yaalon but was refused.
"The cabinet reshuffle did not result from a crisis in faith between us. It resulted from the need to expand the government so as to bring stability to the State of Israel given the great challenges it faces. I reckon that if he had not been asked to leave the Defence Ministry and move to the Foreign Ministry, what he calls a crisis of faith between us would not have developed and he would not have quit," he said in a video statement.
Political sources say Netanyahu has offered long-time rival Avigdor Lieberman the defence portfolio, a post crucial for a country on a perennial war footing.
The Defence Ministry also runs civil affairs in the occupied West Bank, where Palestinians struggling for statehood live in friction with Jewish settlers. - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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