Why Gideon Sa'ar joining his government is crucial for Netanyahu’s survival

Israel’s longest-serving prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has secured much-needed support from one of his main rivals to ensure his political survival amid Tel Aviv’s two-pronged war on Gaza and Lebanon.

Gideon Sa’ar, the leader of the New Hope party who unsuccessfully challenged Netanyahu’s leadership in the Likud party in the past, has joined his government as a minister without portfolio.

On the weekend, right after the Israeli government launched large-scale attacks on Beirut that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah alongside many civilians, the Netanyahu government announced the reunion of the old foes.

The two former enemies cemented their friendship by showering fulsome praise on each other.

Netanyahu called Sa’ar a man of “broad vision” who brings “creative solutions to complex problems”. In return, the former Likud member, whose new party holds four crucial seats in the Knesset, credited the prime minister with showing “noteworthy determination” against Israel’s enemies.

“There’s no point continuing to sit in the opposition, where most members’ positions on the war issue are different, even far from my own. Right now, it is my duty to try to contribute at the table where decisions are made,” Sa’ar said.

Sa’ar has previously served in Netanyahu’s emergency war cabinet without a portfolio and some speculated prior to Israel’s attacks on Lebanon that the prime minister would replace Yoav Gallant, a relatively moderate figure, who has shown some resistance against him, with the New Hope head.

“The mystery was solved… Netanyahu is close to a secret understanding with Knesset member Gideon Sa'ar of the New Hope-United Right on Sa'ar's joining the government,” wrote Amos Harel, an Israeli military analyst, two weeks ago.

Now, Sa’ar, whose party’s four members will be crucial for Netanyahu’s far-right coalition government’s long-term political survival, will again serve as a minister without a portfolio and some still argue that at some point he will succeed Gallant. With Sa’ar’s support, the Netanyahu coalition holds 68 seats in the 120-member Knesset.

“I appreciate the fact that Gideon Sa’ar has answered my request and agreed to join the government. This move contributes to the unity among us, and to our unity in the face of our enemies,” said Netanyahu, who neutralised one of his most dangerous political opponents.

The 57-year-old Sa’ar, who left the emergency war government earlier this year, after Netanyahu refused to hand him a ministerial post in his cabinet, shares Netanyahu’s uncompromising approach on national security issues and the war on Gaza.

Who is Sa’ar?

Born Gideon Moshe Serchensky, Sa’ar worked as an aide to the attorney general between 1995 and 1997, and then as an aide to the State Attorney until 1998.

Sa'ar was appointed cabinet secretary in 1999 and again from 2001–2 after Likud's Ariel Sharon won a special election for prime minister.

Sa’ar was first elected to the Knesset in 2003 as a member of the Likud party. With the exception of a hiatus between 2014 and 2019, he has consistently held his Knesset seat. Before a sexual harassment allegation surfaced in 2014, Sa’ar was a leading figure in Likud, frequently gaining strong support in the party’s primaries.

He served as the minister of education from 2009 to 2013 and as the minister of the interior from 2013 to 2014. In 2021, Sa’ar was appointed deputy prime minister and later served as justice minister from 2021 to 2022.

In 2019, amid widespread corruption accusations against Netanyahu, Sa’ar declared his intention to oust him from the Likud leadership, which received support from different quarters of Israel’s divided politics seeing him as a good successor to Netanyahu.

However, Netanyahu’s camp accused Sa’ar of being aligned with the Left and the media in an attempt to remove Netanyahu from power. Sa’ar lost the leadership contest to Netanyahu by a significant margin.

Despite receiving support from anti-Netanyahu factions, Sa’ar has occasionally demonstrated views that some believe could be more extreme than Netanyahu’s.

"Around the world, the words 'two-state solution' remain a kind of certificate of acceptance. I have to tell you this is not a helpful position," Sa’ar said, accusing Netanyahu of having a ‘two-state illusion’ and a soft approach on Palestinians.

Sa’ar is a staunch defender of Likud’s hardline stance that "Between the Jordan River and the (Mediterranean) Sea there won’t be another independent state", and rejects a Palestinian state under a two-state solution.

Sa’ar’s mother is of Central Asian origin, belonging to the Mizrahi-Bukharian Jewish community, while his father is an Ashkenazi Jew from Ukraine. Sa’ar’s family has had significant connections with David Ben-Gurion, a key figure in Israel’s founding and its first prime minister.

Sa’ar also opposed Israel’s 2005 Gaza withdrawal under Sharon, advocating instead for a "smaller" territory for Palestinians.

Sa’ar supports the annexation of the occupied West Bank.