Sa’ar, Shaked Trade Barbs Over Netanyahu Contacts

By Hamodia Staff

YERUSHALAYIM — Leaders of the right wing of the outgoing coalition were attacking each other over alleged contacts with opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu.

New Hope leader Justice Minister Gideon Sa’ar depicted Yamina head and Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked as a putative partner in a Netanyahu-led government, saying that “everyone who votes for Ayelet Shaked knows that she will go with Netanyahu. Even before the dissolution of the Knesset [last week], she worked to form [an alternate] government headed by him,” Sa’ar told Army Radio on Monday.

Shaked tweeted her retort, saying she “admitted to having made ‘superhuman efforts’ to prevent going to elections,” and described her actions as “the responsible thing to do” for the country.

She then accused Sa’ar of conducting similar negotiations with Netanyahu, which he denied.

Sa’ar said that he had refused past offers from Netanyahu that he, Sa’ar, serve as prime minister in a rotation agreement, and had rejected similar offers in recent weeks.

“Does anyone believe that you would stand up to that test?” he asked Shaked on Twitter.

Meanwhile, both Yamina and New Hope are in the electoral cellar, as a poll released by the Kan public broadcaster on Monday showed both parties at just four seats, the bare minimum needed to enter the Knesset.

To add to Yamina’s woes, it appears likely that MK Matan Kahana will soon leave the party, and is already exploring options to join either with New Hope or Blue and White, according to The Times of Israel.