Israel national security adviser 'fired by Netanyahu'

Israel’s national security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi said on Tuesday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sacked him, ending his tenure immediately.

“Prime Minister Netanyahu informed me today of his intention to appoint a new head of the National Security Council,” Hanegbi said in a statement.

He also called for an investigation into security failures during Hamas’s unprecedented October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that sparked the war in Gaza.

Two years after the attack, Netanyahu’s government has yet to set up a commission to investigate the matter, with Israel’s opposition accusing him of stalling the process.

Netanyahu’s office published on Tuesday a statement thanking Hanebgi “for his service as head of the National Security Council over the past three years, and wishes him great success in his future path”.

Tzachi, a former member of parliament for Netanyahu’s Likud party and a minister, had been national security adviser since 2023.

Since the start of the war in Gaza, Netanyahu has also sacked defence minister Yoav Gallant and Shin Bet security service chief Ronen Bar.

A fragile ceasefire has been in place in Gaza since October 10.