Deputy FM Haskel says she won’t follow Sa’ar in rejoining Likud

By Sam Sokol 16 August 2025, 9:10 pm

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Sam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. 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"

Deputy Foreign Minister MK Sharren Haskel descending the steps of the Temple Mount, August 3, 2025. (Courtesy)

Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel confirms that she will not rejoin Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud, after the ruling party’s Central Committee voted last week to approve a merger with her New Hope party.

New Hope holds four out of 120 seats in the Knesset while Likud has 32.

Party chief and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar signed an agreement to dissolve his right-wing New Hope faction into Likud in March, five years after he bolted the ruling faction following a failed leadership primary bid against the premier.

Speaking with The Times of Israel while still in the opposition last August, Haskel insisted that Netanyahu’s administration was “one of the worst governments that we could have had in such a difficult, challenging time for our country.”

After Sa’ar signed his agreement with Likud in March, Channel 13 reported that Haskel was not expected to return to Likud, a fact she confirms in a WhatsApp message to The Times of Israel.