Saar, a former justice minister, has been critical of the government’s war policies over the past few months, saying it should take the initiative more and take decisive action against Israel’s enemies, including Iran.
Saar has been critical about making a deal with Hamas to end the Gaza conflict, while Gallant has been pushing for a truce that would include swapping Israeli hostages in Gaza for Palestinian prisoners.
Netanyahu would be strengthening his political position by adding Saar’s four-seat faction to his coalition as he would be less reliant on each one of his other partners.
It could also ease two political headaches for Netanyahu, passing a state budget and a new conscription law that would be acceptable to his ultra-Orthodox coalition partners who want to keep religious Jewish seminary students out of the military.
In his role as defence minister, Gallant has often taken an independent line against Netanyahu.
He has dismissed Netanyahu’s repeated aim of “total victory” in Gaza as nonsense. Gallant has also called for a clearer post-war plan that would see the enclave governed by Palestinians.
Last year, during protests over a drive by Netanyahu to curb the Supreme Court’s powers, Gallant broke ranks and spoke out against a plan which he said was causing such deep social divisions that it endangered national security.
Netanyahu sacked him but backtracked when Israelis took to the streets in one of the largest demonstrations in the country’s history.
