FM Gideon Sa’ar to return to Likud party, intends to compete in next primaries – report

Israeli Foreign Minister and New Hope party leader Gideon Sa’ar is planning to return to his former political home and rejoin the Likud party in the coming days, according to a Channel 12 News report.

Sa’ar and the other members of New Hope will reportedly be allowed to compete in the next internal Likud elections. Sa’ar will receive the right to reserve two spots – which are likely to fall in the 30s and 40s on the list – for his preferred candidates.

According to Israel Hayom, Sa’ar doesn’t intend to reserve a spot for himself. Instead, he plans to compete in the party elections, seeking to prove he still wields influence in the party that he left in 2019 and is returning from a position of strength.

While Knesset Member Ze’ev Elkin, another former Likud member who serves in the Finance Ministry, is expected to join Sa’ar and receive one of the reserved spots, Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel is expected to continue as an independent without rejoining the Likud.

The political deal, which sees the former bitter rivals Netanyahu and Sa’ar bury the hatchet, comes amid negotiations over the 2025 state budget. The prime minister needs Sa’ar’s four votes to pass the budget and a potential IDF draft bill.

If these issues can be resolved, the stability of Netanyahu’s coalition might be ensured until the end of his government’s term in 2026.

The left-wing Democrats Party on Sunday slammed reports that Sa'ar intended to officially return to the right wing by rejoining Likud.

“The deal with Gideon Sa’ar was born precisely for these moments,” the party declared. “When the coalition is in turmoil, he is there to sell out all his values, including legitimizing mass [military draft] evasion. The main thing is to return to the Likud that slandered and cursed him and his family.”

The return to Likud would mean the closing of a circle for Sa’ar, who began his political career as a Likud Knesset Member back in 2003. After rising through the ranks and becoming interior minister, he went on a political hiatus in 2014.

Three years later, he announced his return to politics and was widely seen as a rising star in Israel’s right-wing government, with a real shot of challenging Benjamin Netanyahu for the leadership of the Likud.

However, when party elections were held in 2019, Sa’ar was defeated and amid public animosity with Netanyahu, subsequently left to form his New Hope party.

After being seen as a hawk, even within the right-wing Likud, Sa’ar went on to rebrand himself as a centrist, becoming justice minister in the Bennett-Lapid government in 2021 before joining Benny Gantz’s Blue and White party to create the National Unity party.

Following the Oct. 7 Hamas invasion and terror attack, National Unity joined an emergency government, with Sa’ar being named minister without portfolio.

In March 2024, Sa’ar split from National Unity, before leaving the government after being excluded from a position in the War Cabinet.

In September, Sa’ar and New Hope rejoined the government, with Netanyahu and Sa’ar both acknowledging past disagreements but vowing to work together for the sake of the country.

“When I resigned, I criticized what I saw as stagnation,” Sa’ar said at the time. “It’s clear that an active, assertive approach, from Beirut to Hodeidah, is necessary – something I have always advocated for.” 

“It’s the patriotic and right thing to do,” he added. “I am joining the government without a coalition agreement but with a clear vision and a strong sense of duty to serve our people. While my relationship with the prime minister has seen both close cooperation and political rifts over the years, we have worked together without animosity during this government.”