Israeli Knesset member Gideon Sa’ar said he will not take the defense minister post offered to him by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israeli media reported earlier this week that Netanyahu was in talks with Sa’ar, who is head of the New Hope party, to replace Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
“Sa’ar told Netanyahu that he is not interested in replacing Gallant if he is removed,” according to Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, as reported by Anadolu, Monday (23/9).
The dispute between Netanyahu and Gallant has come to a head over the government’s approach to escalating border tensions with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. While Gallant advocates a serious diplomatic effort to defuse tensions, Netanyahu has pushed for a large-scale military campaign.
Sa’ar, a former member of Netanyahu’s Likud Party, was part of the emergency government formed at the start of the war on the Gaza Strip but resigned in March after he was excluded from the War Cabinet.
Israel is on high alert amid anticipation of an immediate response from Hezbollah to Friday’s deadly attack that killed at least 38 people, including children and women, and wounded dozens in Beirut’s southern suburbs.
Hezbollah confirmed that at least 16 of its members, including senior leader Ibrahim Aqil and top commander Ahmed Wahbi, were killed in Israeli strikes.
Read also: Reminding Netanyahu, Macron: Israel is Encouraging Regional War
The attack came two days after at least 37 people were killed and more than 3,000 injured in two waves of explosions of wireless communications devices in Lebanon.
While the Lebanese government and Hezbollah blamed Israel for the blast, Tel Aviv has neither denied nor confirmed its involvement.
Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in a cross-border war since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza, which has killed nearly 41,400 people, mostly women and children, following a cross-border attack by Hamas on October 7 last year.
#Knesset #Members #Reject #Netanyahus #Offer
