Erdan and Netanyahu
Erdan and NetanyahuFlash 90

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has offered the position of Interior Minister, to be vacated by Gideon Sa’ar, to Communications Minister Gilad Erdan, Channel 2 News reported on Friday.

Erdan asked Netanyahu to give him some time to consider the offer, the report said. Netanyahu was quick to offer the post to Erdan since he is already contemplating an offer to serve as Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations.

In a surprising move, Sa'ar announced on Wednesday that he will be leaving politics and will hand his resignation in after the holidays later this month.

According to Channel 2 News, Sa’ar’s move was related to recent tensions with Netanyahu, the climax of which came during the recent presidential campaign.

Sa’ar supported then-MK Reuven Rivlin in his race for the post of president, despite Netanyahu's objections to Rivlin’s candidacy.

At one point, Netanyahu was trying to change the law so that the presidential election would be postponed, and Sa’ar publicly came out against that possibility, writing on Facebook that he would oppose any such move and that “you do not change the rules in the middle of the game.”

According to Channel 2 News, Netanyahu phoned Sa’ar several moments after he posted that Facebook status and asked him, “How could you do this to me, how can you come out against me?”

Sa’ar reportedly replied, “You did not share your decision with me, and in any case it would not have changed my mind, and it's not about Rivlin". Netanyahu then reportedly said, "I will remember this.”

(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)