"I will submit my resignation to the speaker of the Knesset," Gallant said in a televised statement on Wednesday and later his office released a photograph showing him submitting his resignation letter.
According to the Palestinian news agency Samaa, Gallant announced that despite the resignation, he will remain in the ruling right-wing Likud party.
I have served in the Israeli army for 35 years and a decade in the administration and the Knesset, he said, adding that “there are moments when one must pause and reassess the direction”.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had sacked Gallant, saying there was a "breakdown in trust" amid disagreements between the two on several issues, notably the exemption of ultra-Orthodox Jewish from military service.
On Wednesday, the Israeli media quoted Gallant as saying that "I understood that the issue of drafting Haredim is not merely a social issue. It is, first and foremost, a necessary security and military need."
The dismissal was the result of differences with the Prime Minister on three issues, Gallant acknowledged, saying the first was the military service for everyone.
He described the return of Zionist captives from the Gaza Strip as the second issue of disagreement, saying: "The prisoners can be released by making a few concessions, even though some of these concessions are painful."
The dismissed Minister of War of the Zionist regime added: "The third difference was about the investigation committee and my insistence on the need to form an independent investigation committee."
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