The chairman of the New Hope party, Gideon Sa’ar, a long-time nemesis of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, said on Monday that he no longer supports a boycott of the prime minister.

Sa’ar, who sits in the government’s security cabinet after joining Netanyahu following the October 7th attack along with four other opposition politicians to form a national emergency government, was asked in an interview with the Knesset Channel if political boycotts should stop. He replied: “In my opinion, yes.” When asked specifically about Netanyahu, he again responded: “In my opinion, yes.”

“I haven’t changed my mind about Netanyahu,” Sa’ar clarified. “I thought that the government should be replaced and I don’t see things differently. But ultimately, after the public goes to vote in the next elections, the outcome should be respected and a government should be established based on the outcome.”

Sa’ar does not rule out sitting under Netanyahu in a permanent future government that will be formed after the elections, in contrast to the current emergency government. However, at least according to polls, the chance of Netanyahu heading such a government currently seems low.

Sa’ar founded his party as an alternative to the Likud party headed by Netanyahu but admits today that the events that befell Israel on October 7th and afterward have caused him to rethink things.

Sa’ar added that he already began having doubts about political boycotts during the clashes that arose on Yom Kippur, when left-wing protesters prevented Jews from holding public tefillos in Tel Aviv – a week before October 7th. Immediately after the massacre, Sa’ar told his National Unity partners  – Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot – that joining a unity government is imperative.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)