Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai was "dismissed" from his post by angry Gaza Belt community council heads who notified him of his new status in a letter handed to him when he arrived for a meeting with the residents on Tuesday.
"In light of your inability to fulfill the duties for which you have been appointed deputy, we hereby inform you that your services are no longer required and that you are no longer welcome in our region. You have also wrongly accused us of cowardice and have abandoned the residents," it said.
The letter was written in response to harsh comments about the residents in the Gaza Belt area made by the Deputy Defense Minister during a session of the Knesset Plenum on Monday.