During an interview for the 103FM Israeli radio station, Knesset Member (MK) Gidon Sa’ar spoke about what he thinks will happen if Netanyahu cannot form a coalition, along with his relations with other parties.
At the beginning of the conversation, the interviewer asked the Minister of Justice what he thinks about the Haredi parties stating that they will not sit with him and left-wing parties. Sa'ar made it clear that "I have never been, I am not today and will not be in the future on the left. Secondly, just a few days before the elections, there is a desire for the ultra-Orthodox to project something that is real and that is that they prefer to go with the Likud as they have also preferred in the past, this is absolutely clear." Sa'ar was making it clear that the Haredim are simply playing politics in order to garner more votes, but as they have in the past will sit with anyone that offers them the most.
3/ In the last elections, Gidon Sa’ar brought 4.7% of these voters away from Netanyahu to the eventual coalition government. With Shaked and Hendel out of the race (Shaked certainly will pull out before election day as her max 2% in the polls has already become…
— Steve Miller (@SteveMiller202) October 7, 2022
"The real question is, in a reality in the likely scenario that the Bibi bloc doesn’t make it to 61 mandates, what will the ultra-Orthodox parties do then? I can tell you that both in Likud and in the ultra-Orthodox parties, will start praising new alternative leaders," Sa'ar said. He further added: "We don't have much time to wait and see if I'm right or not, first of all, we must wait for the actual results. My assessment is that in a reality where there is no 61 Bibi bloc, the real game will begin."
I think this is an election strategy on Netanyahu's part — he's not ashamed to form a coalition with Ben-Gvir. He needs to pluck two seats from the voters who went for Sa'ar. If the right bloc only wins 59 seats, Netanyahu and Ben-Gvir are useless to each other and they know it. https://t.co/sZBvek5boS
— Abe Silberstein (@abesilbe) October 20, 2022
Minister Sa'ar also revealed that "During the passing term, the ultra-Orthodox parties and also from some within the Likud approached Gantz with such a proposal of forming a coalition, which means that they already saw it as a reasonable thing. The question is whether they will change their minds if Bibi does not reach 61 one more time. There is no principled barrier here It is clear to everyone that if they have the option, they would prefer Netanyahu because Netanyahu is easy to be blackmailed. No one is asking them to join us, and I am not a leftist, nor is Gantz a leftist."
Later, Sa’ar stated that he does not intend to share the talks he is having with members from other parties, "I propose to invest the maximum in preventing a government of Bibi with Smotrich and Ben Gvir, a government that is not good for the State of Israel. All possibilities will open up if we succeed in stopping this and it is a very difficult struggle. However, It is possible just as it happened the previous 4 times it is possible to stop Bibi for the fifth time as well.”
Polls from Mako & Arutz Knesset. Neither the Bibi Bloc nor PM Lapid's Change Coalition get the majority. Another lesson from this poll: Benny Gantz doesn't get the majority whatever the partner.
— Samuel Sabbah (@Samuel_Sabbah) October 25, 2022
Ayelet Shaked's Jewish Home remains below the threshold to be in Knesset. pic.twitter.com/FsaqPRMm9U
When asked if he and Gantz would agree to rely on the Arab parties as a way of forming the next government, he clarified that: "We will not rely directly or indirectly on Hadash or Ta'al. I received offers from Bennett in May of Last year, to be the first Prime Minister in rotation as I have also received the same offer from Bibi by relying on the Arab parties and I refused. We will not agree in any way, or condition, neither internally nor externally, because this is an anti-Israeli faction we are speaking of and it will be impossible to advance the national interest that we so depend on. I cannot be more clear with my words." Sa'ar purposefully left out Ra'am, the Arab party that Sa'ar currently serves with as part of the broad-based coalition that Bennett and Lapid put together last year.
