Likud minister welcomes Sa’ar potentially joining government, urges Liberman to follow suit

Addressing a meeting of Agudath Israel’s Shlomei Emunim faction, Regional Cooperation Minister David Amsalem (Likud) welcomes New Hope chairman Gideon Sa’ar’s potential inclusion in the government and calls on Yisrael Beytenu chief Avigdor Liberman to join as well.

Amsalem’s comments follow reports that talks to replace Defense Minister Yoav Gallant with Sa’ar have been postponed due to security consultations amid the massive pager explosion attack targeting Hezbollah.

“Yoav Gallant is a personal friend of mine, I love him — but in the end, the prime minister is in the lead. As soon as there is a disagreement on a matter of principle, and we cannot manage [it], the junior makes way for the senior. Regardless of the distribution of portfolios, Gideon Sa’ar can enter the government and stay until the end of its term,” he says.

“There will be enough time to fight later — now we need to unite. We also call on Liberman to enter the government, until we achieve the goals of the war.”

Stating that “we made a commitment and we will keep it,” Amsalem promises to advance legislation to regulate Haredi enlistment and calls upon the leading Haredi rabbinic figures to come together to coordinate their positions. He complains about judicial intervention in the issue, asserting that Israel “is not a democratic country.”

“Even if the right-wing bloc gets eighty Knesset seats and we decide to exempt Torah students from conscription, [Supreme Court Chief] Justice [Yitzhak] Amit…will come and say that he does not approve,” he says, adding that if it were up to him he would fire Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara.

“We cannot fire the attorney general, because at that moment the High Court of Justice will order Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to recuse himself,” he continues. “Otherwise, we would have fired her a long time ago.”