Culture and Sports Minister Miri Regev claimed on Sunday that Gideon Sa'ar, who is running against Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu for the leadership of the Likud, is dividing the party and is trying to oust an incumbent Prime Minister.
"Anyone who wants to run - can, but not in the timing and not in the way Sa’ar did. Once he announces he is running, it is the ouster of an incumbent Prime Minister," said Regev in an interview with Channel 13 News.
"The move that Sa’ar is making is splitting the Likud," she clarified. "There is democracy in the Likud, but I thought it was wrong to hold primaries because it is unnecessary and weakens us. Instead of the news opening with what the election campaign looks like, the fight between right and left, they start with the separatism within the Likud. It weakens us."
"What is important today is to be united around Netanyahu, and everything that happens in the Likud has an effect not only inside the party, but outside it as well," continued Regev.
Asked about the support that Sa’ar is getting from within the Likud, Regev replied, "There is no doubt that [Haim] Katz and the aerospace industry have great power, but I have not yet heard [Katz] declare support for Sa’ar. If he does, I would not love to have to hear it, but that will probably be the reality."