Who is Gideon Sa'ar who joined Netanyahu's government without a ministry?

Gideon Sa'ar, head of the National Right party, has joined Netanyahu's government but without a ministerial portfolio, Israeli media reported.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Gideon Sa'ar made a joint statement at a press conference Sunday evening. "I am joining the government at this stage without reaching a coalition agreement," Sa'ar said. "Difficult days still lie ahead, and the challenges and dangers are not over yet."

For his part, Netanyahu said during the press conference: "Gideon Sa'ar complied with my request and returned to the government and we will work together." He added, "Gideon Sa'ar will help me manage the war."

He also said: "As it is written in the Torah, I will pursue my enemies and eliminate them." He added: "We are working systematically to assassinate Hezbollah leaders and change the strategic reality in the entire Middle East."

Netanyahu stressed that "changing the balance of power brings with it the possibility of new alliances in the region because then Israel wins."

He continued, saying: "We are living a war on 7 fronts, and we have crushed Hamas in Gaza, struck Hezbollah, and struck the Houthis in Yemen."

It is noteworthy that Sa'ar had submitted his resignation from the Israeli emergency government on March 23, 2024.

Who is Gideon Sa'ar?

Gideon Sa'ar, 58, was born in Tel Aviv to a pediatrician father and comes from a family that traces its origins to the city of Bukhara in Uzbekistan.

Sa'ar, a politician from the right-wing Likud party and a member of the Knesset, has held ministerial portfolios such as interior and education in Netanyahu's governments.

He resigned from the position of Minister of Interior in 2014, and was elected in 2019 as a member of the Knesset after running on the Likud list.

Sa'ar had halted his political activity in 2014 after his marriage to Israeli television presenter Gula Even, to devote his time to caring for his children from his first marriage and the children of his new wife.

Sa'ar also held several government positions, including Government Secretary between January and July 1999, and between March 2001 and November 2002.

He also served as Assistant State Attorney (1997-1998), and Assistant Government Legal Advisor (1995-1997).

Previously, Sa'ar has strongly opposed the unilateral Israeli withdrawal from Gaza in 2005, and opposes the idea of establishing a Palestinian state.

Active since childhood

When he was 15, Sa'ar joined the Tahiya movement, a movement that became an active political party between 1979 and 1992, when it was founded by right-wing Israeli opponents of the Camp David Accords, according to the Palestinian Center for Israel Studies. He was an activist and youth leader in the party before joining the Likud party later.

Sa'ar holds a BA in Political Science and Law from Tel Aviv University.

Last fall, he called for party primaries shortly after the general election to choose an alternative leader to Netanyahu, who has led Likud continuously since 2005, after working as a lawyer, journalist and assistant to the state attorney general in 1997-98, and serving as cabinet secretary in the last few months of Netanyahu's first government in 1999.

(BBC Arabic)