Maariv: Netanyahu intends to expand the coalition and change the Minister of War

The Israeli newspaper Maariv said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu intends to expand the government coalition by including the Right-Wing Party led by Gideon Sa'ar, to confront the blackmail of the Minister of National Security and head of the Jewish Power Party, Itamar Ben-Gvir, as well as the opposition seeking to overthrow his government.

The newspaper's political correspondent Anna Brasky reported that Netanyahu, who fears the repercussions of dismissing Defense Minister Yoav Galant, intends to assign another portfolio to him instead of dismissing him, and is also considering appointing Foreign Minister and former Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi, not Gideon Sa'ar, in his place.

The correspondent quoted sources close to Netanyahu as saying that adding Sa'ar's party – which will win two to three seats according to opinion polls – to the coalition will strengthen the Likud bloc and weaken the moderate right-wing forces before the upcoming election campaign in Israel.

The correspondent said, “The idea of including the Right-Wing Party in the coalition and making changes to the ministerial portfolios has remained until now just an idea and has not advanced to the implementation stages, but in recent days a number of Likud envoys have held informal talks with Sa'ar and his colleagues in the party in order to know their position on the move before it matures.”

These sources told the correspondent that they had the impression that Netanyahu was interested in replacing Galant with another figure in the Ministry of Defense, but that he “apparently does not intend to offer Sa’ar the high-ranking and important position, especially in times of war. This is because he and his close circle do not trust him and do not believe in him as a reliable and secure political partner, and appointing him as Minister of Defense will provoke anger within the Likud, especially with the possibility that a number of senior officials will oppose this move.”

postponed step

The correspondent explained that expanding the coalition and redistributing ministerial portfolios within the government coalition might justify offering a different ministerial portfolio to Galant, and offering “a high-level, non-security portfolio to Sa'ar.”

Brasky said that Gabi Ashkenazi's name emerged as a candidate for the Defense Ministry in early 2023 in talks held within Netanyahu's inner circle, against the backdrop of the tension that arose between Galant and Netanyahu after the formation of the government due to their differences over changes in the judicial system.

The correspondent concluded by saying that sources close to Netanyahu indicated that when tensions between him and Galant reached their peak, the idea of offering Ashkenazi the war portfolio was raised again.

But Netanyahu postponed the political preoccupation with the possibility of expanding the coalition and rotating positions within the government until after the Iranian attack, hoping that the event would end without a comprehensive regional security deterioration, after which the Israeli prime minister would be free to deal with the political issues at hand.