MK Gideon Sa’ar’s United Right party will join the government, Sa’ar and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a joint statement on Sunday night. The announcement was a dramatic move that came less than a week after Sa’ar came close to joining the government as defense minister, only to have the agreement aborted.
Sa’ar was unanimously voted into the coalition as a minister-without-portfolio on Sunday night, Netanyahu’s office announced.
According to reports, Sa’ar will also serve as a member of the security cabinet. He will also join smaller security consultations. Sa’ar’s number two, MK Ze’ev Elkin, may also become a minister-without-portfolio, but a spokesperson for Elkin said that this was not certain yet.
Sa’ar’s four MKs raise the size of the governing coalition from 64 to 68. This means that the coalition’s two far-right parties, the Religious Zionist Party (seven MKs) and Otzma Yehudit (six MKs), will no longer be able to threaten the coalition’s majority in certain votes in exchange for political concessions.
The move will also pose a constant threat against Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as his potential replacement is now a member of the government and cabinet.
The move could also give Netanyahu breathing room and ensure his government’s survival for the foreseeable future.
Sa’ar joined the government alongside then-party leader MK Benny Gantz on October 11. Sa’ar broke away from Gantz’s party in March and left the government over claims that Israel’s policies in Gaza were not aggressive or effective. Gantz eventually left the government in June.
Netanyahu and Sa’ar’s statement
In a joint press conference, Netanyahu said he had been “deeply impressed” with Sa’ar’s “broad view” and ability to “propose creative solutions to complicated problems” when he was in the government.
Netanyahu praised Sa’ar for “rising to the occasion and ignoring every other consideration.”
Sa’ar said he was entering the government “without a coalition agreement.” He acknowledged that while, in the past, he had worked closely with the prime minister, there were also years of a “personal and political schism.” After the October 7 massacre, however, this was “insignificant.”
Sa’ar added that he had come to the conclusion that there was “no point in continuing to sit in the opposition,” in which “most of its members’ views regarding the war are different and even far from my positions.”
Several ministers commended the move, including, among others, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, Diaspora Affairs Minister and Combating Antisemitism Minister Amichai Chikli, and Justice Minister Yariv Levin.
Opposition leader MK Yair Lapid argued on X/Twitter in response that the move will not strengthen Netanyahu politically.
According to Lapid, Ben-Gvir will not accept that he can no longer threaten the coalition majority and will, therefore, trip up the coalition incessantly. Meanwhile, the problem with the government was not votes but “reality,” Lapid said. Saar would not be able to procure billions of shekels for the budget nor 15 battalions for the IDF, and thus, reality will catch up to the government regardless, Lapid wrote.
