Sa'ar and Bennett have both declared their candidacy for prime minister in the March 23 election.
By GIL HOFFMANNew Hope Party leader Gideon Sa'ar and Yamina Party leader Naftali Bennett.(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Chances of a merger between the two largest anti-Netanyahu parties on the Right suffered a blow on Wednesday, when Yamina leader Naftali Bennett attacked New Hope head Gideon Sa’ar.Sa’ar and Bennett have both declared their candidacy for prime minister in the March 23 election.Bennett told Channel 13 that New Hope is a “bubble party,” designed by strategists like Sa’ar’s friend Tal Zilberstein while he was focusing on the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus.New Hope responded that Bennett is “impulsive, lacks judgment and fires in all directions when he’s stressed.” The party said Bennett lacks Sa’ar’s accomplishments.“Even Bennett already understands that Sa’ar is the only leader who can replace the government and bring about change in Israel,” a New Hope spokeswoman said.Yamina then responded by attacking Sa’ar.“Naftali Bennett has been the consistent alternative to Netanyahu,’’ a Yamina spokesman said. “We don’t need lectures from people who served in this failed government until two minutes ago and have suddenly decided that in retrospect it actually wasn’t a good idea after all.”
