Netanyahu adds new minister to cabinet: Report
Israeli opposition politician Gideon Saar is joining Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, Israeli media reports. Netanyahu and Saar are due to deliver a statement later today, the prime minister’s office has said.
Why analysts believe Netanyahu is bringing his former rival into the Israeli government
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to bring former rival Gideon Sa’ar into his government is intended to shore up his domestic power base, analysts say.
Nadav Shtrauchler, a political strategist who worked closely with Netanyahu, told CNN that the move was intended to have three effects:
- First, he said, bringing in Sa’ar — a veteran right-wing politician — would give Netanyahu “more leverage” on far-right national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who was previously convicted for inciting terrorism. Ben Gvir is “not (Netanyahu’s) cup of tea, and he’s not reliable.”
- Second, Shtrauchler said, Sa’ar could help protect Netanyahu from the ultra-Orthodox parties who have the power to bring down the government. Those parties want to pass a law exempting ultra-Orthodox men from mandatory military service, which would threaten Netanyahu’s coalition. Sa’ar is said to be close with the ultra-Orthodox factions.
- Finally, the analyst told CNN, broader political support is important as war with Hezbollah escalates, and the possibility of a ground invasion looms.
Netanyahu announced Sunday that Sa’ar would join the government as a minister without portfolio.
Sa’ar said Sunday that “there is no point in continuing to sit in the opposition, in a situation where the positions of most of its members on the subject of the war are different and even far from my position. This is a time when it is my duty to try and contribute at the decision-making table.”
More background: Prior to Israel’s escalated war with Hezbollah in Lebanon, Netanyahu had intended to fire Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and elevate Sa’ar to the position. Sa’ar has little national security experience, and the scheme to appoint him defense minister drew widespread ridicule from national security heavyweights. “It’ll take him months on end to train for the job,” Gadi Eisenkot, a highly respected former Israeli military chief and member of the opposition, said at the time.
Sa’ar quit Netanyahu’s Likud party in 2020 to form his own party, New Hope, but failed to find a stable support base. He joined the emergency government after October 7, but quit this spring. He had since then been in talks with Netanyahu to re-join the government for some time.
Israel says it ‘needs to keep hitting’ Hezbollah ‘hard’
Israel’s military chief of staff has said that Hezbollah lost weapons, operatives and its leader in Israeli strikes on Beirut. Herzi Halevi said that Israel needs to keep hitting the group “hard”.
Israel has indeed been hitting Lebanon hard today, with successive air attacks on all areas of the country, including the south of the capital, Beirut. Its attacks across Lebanon have killed at least 105 people today, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
