A minister-shaped hole in the Likud

Two days after Interior Minister Gideon Sa’ar dropped the political bomb and announced his surprise resignation from the Knesset, the Hebrew newspapers on Friday continue to evaluate the fallout of the move, and — despite his protestations — anticipate a comeback.

Israel Hayom reports that Sa’ar met secretly with former Likud member Moshe Kahlon, who is planning to establish his own party in the next election, a day before his announcement.

In the past three weeks, it reports, quoting unnamed sources, the couple met on two other occasions. The most recent meeting took place at Sa’ar’s home and lasted two hours, it writes, adding that the interior minister attempted to convince Kahlon to join forces and topple Netanyahu, but the latter did not offer any promises. Neither Kahlon or Sa’ar denied they had met, according to the report, but rather maintained that the two are good friends who frequently get together.

A statement from Sa’ar’s office insisted that the interior minister did not inform Kahlon during any of these discussions that he had decided to take a break from political life.

Meanwhile, in Yedioth Ahronoth, the paper leads with a report on the furious Likud members who maintain that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “is scaring away the good ones, and is not allowing the next generation [of political leaders] to flourish.” The unnamed Likud sources said that the prime minister has stamped out any potential competition from within the party, and in the process drove out some of its most promising politicians.

Yedioth reports that Netanyahu is gearing up for early elections due to the budget crisis between the Defense Ministry and the Finance Ministry, and that Sa’ar’s resignation will likely speed up that process further.

The paper also traces the conflict between Sa’ar and Netanyahu to the merger with Yisrael Beytenu ahead of the last election — a move Sa’ar publicly backed, but privately fumed about, it says. Sa’ar later conceded that he was mistaken on this matter, but after a series of demotions — such as receiving the Interior Ministry portfolio and exclusion from the security cabinet — the relationship between the two deteriorated further, the Likud sources said.

The tension culminated during the presidential campaign, when the prime minister attempted to delay the vote to find a different candidate, spurning now-President Reuven Rivlin, and Sa’ar, who staunchly supported Rivlin for president.

However, in an address Thursday night, a noticeably relaxed Sa’ar dismissed rumors of a political comeback, Yedioth reports. “This morning I read the op-eds,” he said. “I didn’t leave [the government] last night to return tomorrow morning.

“I’ve heard there is life outside of politics, and I’m going to investigate that rumor,” he said good-naturedly.

Yedioth also features an infographic on the six prominent Likud members who have left the government in the last few years (Moshe Kahlon, Gideon Sa’ar, Reuven Rivlin, Michael Eitan, Benny Begin, and Dan Meridor), and their reasons for leaving, under the headline: “A Kingdom without Princes.”

Despite the speculation swirling about Sa’ar’s future political maneuvering, a Haaretz poll shows that no candidate poses a threat to Netanyahu. The survey showed that 5% of the public would like to see Sa’ar as prime minister, which sees him tying with Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, Economy Minister Naftali Bennett, and ex-Likud MK Moshe Kahlon.

“This is a significant achievement for Sa’ar, who never formally declared that he would run,” the report maintains. Still, Netanyahu remains far above any other candidates at 38%, with the closest front-runner, Labor leader Isaac Herzog, receiving only 7 percent of the vote.

The poll asked respondents whether they intend to vote for Kahlon’s political party, to which 16% answered yes. The percentage of voters jumped to 23% when asked whether they would vote for a joint Sa’ar-Kahlon party.

Sa’ar’s departure also did not significantly affect whether voters would elect the Likud in the next election, with 80% of respondents saying that his leaving did not affect their choice one way or another.

Haaretz reports that Communications Minister Gilad Erdan will likely take the Interior Ministry portfolio, and drop his bid for UN envoy. Sa’ar’s resignation from political life also makes Netanyahu more dependent on the Yisrael Beytenu list, it notes.