(Bloomberg) -- A longtime rival of Benjamin Netanyahu said he would join his coalition, diminishing the virtual veto that far-right members have held over Israel’s prime minister amid a year of war.
Gideon Saar, a veteran right-wing lawmaker, will become a member of the high-level security cabinet, according to a joint statement by Netanyahu and Saar.
Saar and his New Hope party joined the Netanyahu government after Oct. 7, along with Benny Gantz’s Israel Resilience Party. But Saar withdrew from the coalition in March, protesting his exclusion from the now-dissolved, three-person war cabinet that included Gantz and set the policies on fighting Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Gantz left the war cabinet in June and quit the government.
In the statement, Saar and Netanyahu said they’ve set aside their personal differences after recognizing they share views on many security matters.
“In the security cabinet discussions, I was very impressed by the broad view of Gideon Saar and from his abilities to present creative solutions to complicated problems,” Netanyahu said. “More than once, we saw eye to eye on the steps that must be taken.”
Initially, Saar demanded he be given the role of defense minister, replacing Yoav Gallant. Gallant’s relationship with Netanyahu has soured in recent months, and the two have clashed over hostage exchange negotiations with Hamas. Saar dropped the demand he be made defense minister as tensions with Lebanon escalated.
Saar’s New Hope — which he set up five years ago after a failed attempt to unseat Netanyahu as head of Likud — gained four seats in the 2023 elections that will now be added to the ruling coalition.
That gives Netanyahu 68 seats in the 120-seat parliament, or Knesset, and more of a cushion should parts of the coalition threaten to rebel. The hand of far-right firebrand Itamar Ben-Gvir, for example, would be weakened in any attempt to push through his more nationalist policies.
The move comes as the government seeks to pass a budget in the coming months, and Saar may back Netanyahu’s proposed softening of a law on military conscription of ultra-Orthodox men.
Saar’s military experience is limited to a stint as an infantry conscript. He is a lawyer by training and a former attorney general’s aide.
Saar is likely to take a hard-line position on the negotiations with Hamas for a cease-fire and hostage exchange deal.
“Hamas is not interested in a hostage deal,” he said in a Sept. 10 post on X. “The thought that if Israel just makes this or that concession then the matter will be resolved is simply not true. It is a grave mistake to tear the nation apart for something that does not exist.”
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