Reports continued to swirl on Tuesday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is planning to oust Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, with whom he has clashed multiple times over the past year on policies relating to the war both on the northern front with Hezbollah and with Hamas in Gaza. Earlier this month, the pair had a public dispute over the concept of retaining IDF forces in the Philadelphi Corridor, a move some say has prevented negotiations with Hamas over a cease-fire and hostage release from moving forward.

However, according to some Israel media reports, Netanyahu’s main motivation in firing Gallant – and replacing him with former minister and political rival, Gidon Sa’ar – stems from the defense minister’s refusal to pass legislation that would continue exempting Haredi men from military service during a time of war when the IDF says it is lacking in manpower.

Sa’ar, who previously ran against Netanyahu for the leadership of the Likud party and who has previously been critical of the prime minister’s handling of the war and other matters, reportedly would allow such legislation to pass, a step that would placate Haredi parties participating in Netanyahu’s shaky political coalition. In 2022, Sa’ar started his own party, New Hope, which currently has 4 Knesset members.

The potential political upheaval comes at a time when tensions are soaring on Israel’s border with Lebanon. Israeli residents of the northern border region are unable to return to their homes after 347 days of war as the Iranian-backed Shiite terror group Hezbollah fires almost daily barrages of missiles, rockets and drones over the border.

On Monday night, Israel’s security cabinet voted to update the objectives of the current war to include “the safe return of residents to their homes in the north,” a statement released by the prime minister’s office said Tuesday.

Gallant met earlier in the day with White House senior envoy Amos Hochstein and emphasized the security situation in the North and the need to “ensure the safe return of Israel’s northern communities to their homes,” a statement from his office said. The statement added that “the Minister and IDF officials presented Hochstein with potential operations against Hezbollah’s forces.”

“The possibility for an agreement is running out as Hezbollah continues to ‘tie itself’ to Hamas, and refuses to end the conflict,” the beleaguered Israeli defense minister told Hochstein. “Therefore, the only way left to ensure the return of Israel’s northern communities to their homes will be via military action.”

Hochstein also met on Monday with Netanyahu, telling him that intensifying the conflict with Hezbollah would not help achieve Israel’s goal of returning residents to their homes but risked sparking a broad and protracted regional conflict, the Associated Press reported, quoting an unnamed U.S. official.

Israel’s Kan 11 news said Monday that Israel has been holding “around-the-clock” discussions in recent days regarding the possibility of significant offensive action in Lebanon. According to the report, Gallant has reiterated in closed meetings: “We have passed the strategic junction, and the implications for Lebanon are clear.”

In Lebanon, Nabih Berri, speaker of the Lebanese Parliament, said in statements that he did not believe Israel would carry out a large-scale ground attack in the country because “it knows it will pay a heavy price,” Israeli media reported. Instead, he assessed Israel would more likely increase the pace of its military operations.

With the prospect of a full-scale military confrontation with Hezbollah in Lebanon on the horizon, the reports that Netanyahu is looking to imminently replace Gallant drew sharp criticism and even some protests inside Israel.

On Monday night, hundreds of protesters made their way to Sa’ar’s central Tel Aviv home to urge the former justice minister, who has also clashed with Netanyahu on issues such as the judicial reform proposals and served in a key role in the previous government under then-Prime Ministers Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, not to take up a post in the current leadership.

Representatives of the families of Israeli hostages still being held captive by Hamas in Gaza were particularly disturbed by the possibility that Sa’ar, who has been vocal in opposing a cease-fire deal that would release their loved ones, would replace Gallant. Many held banners and chanted outside his home, calling on him not to join Netanyahu’s government.

In a thread on X, Lapid, who was in Washington on Monday meeting with Secretary of State Tony Blinken and with former President Barack Obama, recycled past comments made by Sa’ar criticizing Netanyahu and his policies. In one post, Lapid highlighted a two-year-old statement from Sa’ar that he would not “sit in a government with Netanyahu because he represents an approach that endangers the future of the State of Israel. My principles do not allow me to support a leader who puts his personal good above everything.”

On the main X account of Yesh Atid, the party headed by Lapid, wrote: “While the hostages are dying in tunnels, the residents of the north are under fire, and our soldiers and displaced have been abandoned — Netanyahu is investing his time and effort in his political survival.”

“Switching your veteran defense minister when you are still fighting Hamas in Gaza, preparing for a major offensive against Hezbollah, grappling with an escalation of terrorism in the West Bank, fighting off Houthi missile attacks, and trying to strategize on thwarting Iran’s nuclear weapons drive is beyond irresponsible. Installing a replacement with no major security experience merely elevates the recklessness,” Times of Israel Editor-in-Chief David Horovitz wrote in an opinion piece on Tuesday.

Horovitz went on to say that Israel’s enemies will be watching the move closely and “while the IDF has been striving to restore Israel’s deterrent capability after October 7’s humiliation and catastrophe, those enemies can only be encouraged by the fresh evidence of disunity and chaos at the helm of the small Jewish nation whose destruction they are delightedly contemplating.”

The Prime Minister’s Office has denied that negotiations with Sa’ar are taking place. A spokesman for Sa’ar claimed there was “nothing new” on the matter, according to reports.

 In March last year, when Netanyahu decided to fire Gallant — but later reversed the decision — Sa’ar wrote on X: “Netanyahu’s decision to fire Defense Minister Yoav Galant is an act of madness, indicating a complete lack of judgment. There is no precedent in Israel’s history for a security minister being fired because he warned, as required by his position, of a security danger. Netanyahu is determined to lead Israel into the abyss. Every day that Netanyahu is in office endangers Israel and its future.”