Sa’ar says former PM Bennett planning a return to politics

Naftali Bennett intends to return to politics, New Hope chairman Gideon Sa’ar tells reporters, revealing that he met with the former prime minister as recently as last month.

Responding to a question from The Times of Israel during his party’s weekly faction meeting in the Knesset, Sa’ar said, “The last time I met with Bennett was on the eve of the Shavuot holiday and I understand that that’s his plan.”

Asked by another reporter about the possibility of uniting the anti-Netanyahu right, Sa’ar says there are talks between the different opposition parties “all the time,” although “not everything is made public.”

Immediately after the holiday, Bennett appeared to hint at a return to politics, tweeting that it was possible to rebuild a wide unity coalition similar to the one he established with now-Opposition Leader Yair Lapid in 2021.

Aside from discussing the possibility of forming an alternative to Likud on the right ahead of the next election, Sa’ar also criticizes the current government, lamenting its inability to advance legislation extending draftees’ terms of service despite the army’s pressing wartime manpower needs.

Sunday’s cabinet meeting, during which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and members of his government harshly criticized Defense Minister Yoav Gallant as he tried to discuss a proposal to lengthen mandatory service for men to three years, was “an intolerable farce,” Sa’ar says.

Lambasting the government for engaging in a “political fight” instead of working to advance the measure, Sa’ar notes that last week, a law that passed before the war actually shortening soldiers’ terms of service by two months went into effect.

Allowing this to happen is a “violation of Israel’s security,” he continues, adding that while his party opposes the government, it “will support the law extending regular service if the government decides to bring it to the Knesset.”