news

[global times reporter li ziyu] the times of israel reported on the 16th, citing the israeli public broadcasting corporation, that an official from the israeli prime minister's office revealed that israeli prime minister netanyahu is preparing to fire israeli defense minister galant and is considering appointing gideon saar, leader of the israeli right-wing party "new hope", to replace him. the report said that both netanyahu and saar denied the news.

netanyahu (front) and galant file photo from israeli media

the times of israel said that if saar fails to be appointed as defense minister, he may take over as foreign minister, and israel's current foreign minister katz will replace galant as defense minister.

gideon sarr's profile picture from israeli media

the report also mentioned that in august, israel's channel 12 reported that the israeli prime minister's wife and advisers had expressed their distrust of saar as defense minister, and then the negotiations for saar to take over the israeli ministry of defense broke down. according to the report, saar had asked to be defense minister but was rejected, and was instead offered other positions such as foreign minister or justice minister. saar's spokesman denied this, telling the times of israel at the time, "there were no negotiations, so there was no breakdown (in negotiations)."

according to reports, the israeli prime minister's office responded in a latest statement on september 16 that the reports about netanyahu and saar's negotiations were "incorrect", and saar's spokesman also said that there was "no new development" on the matter.

the times of israel mentioned that rumors that netanyahu would replace galant have been circulating for months, and saar denied the idea of ​​letting him return to the ruling coalition as early as july. however, when asked at the time if he was willing to serve as defense minister in the current government, saar seemed to hint that he would consider this option and replied that he would not "hold his hands" on the matter, the report said.