Prime Minister Yair Lapid nearly appointed Gideon Sa'ar to the position of Deputy Foreign Minister in the interim government, but negotiations fell through following Sa'ar's alliance with Defense Minister Benny Gantz, Channel 12 News reported on Friday.
According to the report, Lapid believed before Blue and White and New Hope announced a joint election run that Sa'ar and his party could pass the electoral threshold and, as such, wanted them to run alone in the upcoming elections - in order to prevent the Netanyahu bloc from winning 61 seats.
Upon his appointment as Prime Minister of the interim government, the report continued, Lapid sought to appoint someone else to the post of Foreign Minister, and turned to Sa'ar with the goal of having him serve as Deputy Foreign Minister from August until the November elections.
Advanced talks took place between the parties, but according to the report, Lapid then found out that Gantz and Sa'ar were on their way to an alliance, and the negotiations fell through. The Prime Minister made clear to Sa'ar that if the union with Gantz materializes, he will naturally not be able to be appointed Foreign Minister due to the expected rivalry between the parties.
The Channel 12 News report also indicated that Lapid is considering handing over the post of Foreign Minister to Alternate Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, but if he refuses, there is a good chance that one of the members of Yesh Atid will be approached to take on the role.
(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)