Gideon Saar. (Photo: Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
Minister Gideon Saar announced this evening (Tuesday) that he is splitting off from Benny Gantz's centrist State Camp party to form what he called a "state-centered right wing alternative" which would both oppose a Palestinian state and the more radical and anti-establishment tendencies on the right.
In his statement, Sa'ar thanked State Camp leaders Gantz and Eizenkot for their joint work and stressed the importance of creating a powerful political coalition of center-right voters he said were looking for an alternative.
Channel 12 political reporter Amit Segal says that this breakup was in the works for months, and that Sa'ar seeks to create an alternative to the Likud party rather than merge with it.