New Hope party chairman Gideon Sa’ar pushed back Monday morning on claims that he is working to form an alliance with haredi party leaders with the aim of forming an alternative right-wing bloc.
Speaking with Galei Tzhal radio Monday morning, Sa’ar pushed back on reports Sunday that he has reached out to haredi faction leaders in a bid to draw them away from Prime Minister Netanyahu.
“I made no effort to create this kind of agreement,” said Sa’ar. “I didn’t speak with Aryeh Deri in this election cycle, I’m not working with him, and I have not gotten any written assurances from him.”
Later in Monday’s interview, Sa’ar blasted Yamina chief Naftali Bennett, accusing him of planning to ally himself with Netanyahu after the election.
“Yamina is still with Netanyahu. Even today, Bennett still does not rule out forming another government led by Netanyahu with votes he will get.”
Yamina responded to the comments, saying in a statement: “Sa’ar’s party of breakaways continues its smear campaign. Only Naftali Bennett can pull Israel out of the mud.”
The Likud also responded to Sa'ar's comments, saying: "Sa'ar is hiding the fact that any government he joins will have Yair Lapid as prime minister. The choice is between a stable government under Netanyahu or an unstable government under Yair Lapid."