Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has fired Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and replaced him with current Foreign Minister Israel Katz.

The prime minister and defense minister must have “complete trust” in war, and “in recent months that trust has been broken between me and the defense minister,” Netanyahu said in a statement.

Netanyahu said he tried to close the gaps, but “they kept getting bigger.”

“They also caught the public’s attention in an unacceptable way, and worse, they caught the enemy’s attention – our enemies were pleased by it and took great advantage of it,” he said.

Netanyahu said Katz “has already demonstrated his abilities and contribution to national security as foreign minister, as finance minister, as intelligence minister for five years and, no less importantly, as a member of the Political Security Cabinet for many years.”

“He is known as a bulldozer with a combination of responsibility and determination, quiet determination,” Netanyahu said.

Families of hostages criticize Netanyahu’s decision, saying it is “regrettable evidence of the Israeli government’s poor prioritization.”

“The firing of Defense Secretary Gallant is a direct continuation of the ‘efforts’ to torpedo the hostage-taking deal,” the families said in a statement. “We demand that the new defense minister explicitly commit to ending the war and implementing a comprehensive agreement for the immediate return of all hostages.”

Gallant said in a brief statement: “The security of the State of Israel has been and remains the mission of my life.”

-Will Gretsky of ABC News