If he joins government, Sa’ar could get veto over judicial overhaul, choice of IDF chief
Gantz slams untenable recklessness of plan to oust Gallant and install Sa’ar as defense minister; gambit is ‘dangerous, but it is what it is,’ PM quoted as saying
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
Under an emerging deal to install Gideon Sa’ar as defense minister and bring his four-strong New Hope party into the coalition, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will likely give Sa’ar a veto over moves related to the controversial judicial overhaul, as well as a say in the choice of the next Israel Defense Forces chief of staff.
Hebrew media reports laying out the supposed terms of the deal came amidst a flurry of rumors that Netanyahu is preparing to fire Defense Minister Yaov Gallant and appoint Sa’ar as his replacement.
According to the Walla news site, Sa’ar would be given the authority to halt any legislative initiatives intended to curb the power of the judiciary, effectively stymying Justice Minister Yariv Levin’s efforts to revive the initiative, which was largely frozen after October 7.
Sa’ar, a former justice minister, has expressed opposition to large parts of the overhaul, which he and other critics said was undermining Israel’s democracy. Levin and other members of Netanyahu’s cabinet have recently been calling to revive the overhaul.
In addition, both Haaretz and Ynet reported that Netanyahu and Sa’ar have agreed to jointly choose a new IDF chief of staff to replace Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi. A TV report last week claiming that Halevi was considering resigning in December was denied by the IDF.
Haaretz reported that it is not yet clear if Netanyahu and Sa’ar intend to wait for Halevi to resign or force him out. The report also quoted sources as saying that the prime minister is laying the foundation for Gallant’s ouster by spreading rumors that the defense minister opposes an operation in the north.
Seemingly seeking to debunk those claims, Gallant on Monday asserted that only military action against Hezbollah will enable the return of tens of thousands of evacuated Israelis to their homes.
Members of Netanyahu’s cabinet have been calling for Gallant’s termination for months, angered, among other issues, by his opposition to an ultra-Orthodox military enlistment bill backed by the government and his public break with the prime minister over the terms of a proposed hostage deal and control over the Philadelphi Corridor in Gaza.
If the post of defense minister does not pan out, Sa’ar may receive the foreign minister role while Israel Katz takes over for Gallant, according to Channel 12, which also reported that New Hope MK Ze’ev Elkin would be given a ministerial portfolio with responsibilities for the north and fellow MK Sharren Haskel a deputy minister’s post.
The Prime Minister’s Office denied that negotiations with Sa’ar were taking place, and a spokesman for Sa’ar claimed there was “nothing new” on the matter.
One of the sticking points delaying the finalization of an agreement may be the objections of the prime minister’s wife, Sara Netanyahu, according to Hebrew media reports. “Sarah opposed the appointment, agreed to it, and again went back on it,” Walla cited unnamed political sources as stating.
Sa’ar, a former Likud lawmaker and minister — who unsuccessfully challenged Netanyahu for the Likud leadership in 2019, bolted Likud and vowed the next year to oust the prime minister — joined the coalition alongside Benny Gantz’s National Unity party following the October 7 Hamas invasion and slaughter in southern Israel. He announced his party’s departure in March after his demand to be admitted to the since-disbanded high-level war cabinet was denied. Since then, he has vocally criticized the government’s conduct of the war in Gaza and said he would be willing to make “concessions” to create a right-wing bloc opposing Netanyahu.
Sa’ar on Monday also denied subsequent reports that he had been negotiating with the Knesset’s Haredi parties in order to reach a compromise on the conscription of the ultra-Orthodox community, which would smooth the way for his inclusion in the coalition.
On Monday evening, national broadcaster Kan reported that an announcement of a deal was imminent. It also said Gallant had insisted that “no matter what, I will stay in Likud. I am not leaving the party.”
In remarks at a conference on Tuesday morning, Gantz slammed the emerging deal between Netanyahu and Sa’ar, alleging that “what Netanyahu is doing at this moment endangers Israel’s security in the most tangible way that I can remember having been done by a prime minister during a war and in general.”
Replacing the defense minister before a looming campaign in the north that could potentially kindle a regional conflagration constitutes “security recklessness” and doing so “in order to promote a law that would enshrine an exemption from conscription is also moral recklessness,” Gantz said, noting that “human lives and the future of the country are at stake.”
“This is the painful dictionary definition of petty politics at the expense of national security. When we joined the emergency government, we set politics aside for the sake of the war; now Netanyahu and Sa’ar are setting the war aside for the sake of politics.”
According to Walla columnist Ben Caspit, Netanyahu told associates that appointing Sa’ar is “dangerous, but it is what it is.”
“This is the move that will give us survival until 2026, it will allow us to pass a budget and perhaps also a conscription law. I have known Gideon for 25 years, for better or for worse, I know it’s dangerous, but I know how to deal with him and it will be fine,” Caspit quoted Netanyahu as saying.
