Gabbay, member of the center-right Kulanu party, resigned two days after Moshe Yaalon, a member of Netanyahu`s conservative Likud party, stepped down from the position of defense minister.
"I could not accept the removal of Yaalon, a professional defense minister," Gabbay said. "The country has the right to have a right-wing government…but I do not think it is right to form an extremist government," he added.
The ultra-nationalist Avigdor Lieberman, who has pledged harsh measures against Palestinian "terrorists," was named Israel`s new defense minister.
Gabbay`s resignation would not affect Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu`s right-wing coalition, which was getting a boost from five members of Lieberman`s far-right Yisrael Beitenu party. The government now controls 66 of the parliament`s 120 seats, up from 61.
Reacting to the latest developments, US officials said the new coalition raised "legitimate questions" about Israeli commitments to a two-state solution to the Palestine problem. US State Department spokesman Mark Toner said that Washington had "seen reports from Israel describing it as the most right-wing coalition in Israel`s history."
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