Gideon Sa’ar’s New Hope party to review ties with Lincoln Project

The New Hope party, headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s former Likud party rival Gideon Sa’ar, says it is reviewing ties with the founders of the Lincoln Project — a Republican group that opposed former US president Donald Trump and whose leadership has been engulfed in a sexual harassment scandal.

Sa’ar hired several consultants from the Lincoln Project in January as campaign advisers in the upcoming parliamentary election.

Last week, revelations surfaced that the Lincoln Project knew about allegations of sexual harassment involving John Weaver, one of its co-founders, several months before acknowledging them publicly.

Gideon Sa’ar, head of the New Hope political party, seen during an election campaign tour in Raanana, February 8, 2021. (Flash90)

New Hope says it has never worked directly with the Lincoln Project or Weaver; rather, it had engaged four consultants from the organization: co-founders Steve Schmidt, Rick Wilson, Stuart Stevens and Reed Galen. Schmidt resigned from the Lincoln Project last week.

“In any event, due to financial considerations, the contract with the consultants is under review, and in the coming days, we will examine the possibility of further cooperation,” the party says.