PROFILE – Opponent of 2-state solution, Gideon Saar takes helm of Israeli diplomacy

By Zein Khalil

JERUSALEM (AA) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appointed Knesset member Gideon Saar as a new foreign minister on Tuesday night, replacing Israel Katz who became a defense minister.

A hardliner, Saar takes the helm of Israeli diplomacy at a time when Tel Aviv presses ahead with its deadly wars in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.

Born to Ashkenazi Jewish parents in Tel Aviv, Saar served in the Israeli military as an intelligence officer in the Golani Brigade, before studying law at university.

He previously held several government positions, including justice minister, deputy prime minister, education minister, and foreign minister.

Saar, who heads the right-wing New Hope Party, was a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling coalition, but he quit in March after his request to join the War Cabinet was rejected. The War Cabinet was dissolved in June after the resignation of Minister Benny Gantz.

In late September, the Israeli government unanimously approved the appointment of Saar as a minister without portfolio.

- No political settlement

Saar is notoriously known for opposing any political settlement with the Palestinians.

During previous Israeli wars in Gaza in 2009 and 2014, he was a vocal opponent of any cease-fire with resistance groups in the enclave.

In 2022, he refused to allow Palestinian workers from Gaza to cross into Israel for work.

He is a staunch supporter of Israel’s ongoing brutal offensive on Gaza to unseat Hamas from power in the enclave and destroy its military capabilities.

Saar also backs the idea of establishing a buffer zone inside Gaza to prevent Palestinians there from reaching the border area with Israel.

The right-wing minister said on several occasions that Israel must not end the war on Gaza before achieving Israel's declared goals, including destroying Hamas’ capabilities and the return of Israeli captives.

In March, he told the Jerusalem Post that Israel should put forward its own cease-fire plan and called for the exile of Hamas leaders in exchange for the release of Israeli hostages.

- No statehood

In February, Saar voted in the cabinet against the establishment of a Palestinian state, affirming his previous opposition to any Palestinian statehood.

In December 2019, he said that the two-state solution was an “illusion,” claiming that the boundaries of the State of Israel are “between the river [Jordan] and the [Mediterranean] Sea”.

In 2005, Saar strongly opposed former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's disengagement plan for Gaza and blamed the withdrawal of Israeli settlers and troops from the territory for last year’s Hamas attack.

He, however, opposes the current idea adopted by right-wing Israeli officials of rebuilding Jewish-only settlements in Gaza.

“I opposed disengagement [from the Gaza Strip]. I believe it was a mistake, but I don’t think there should be [an Israeli civilian] return,” he said. “There is no international consensus for this.”

Saar's appointment comes as Israel stepped up its deadly offensive in the Gaza Strip, which has killed nearly 43,400 people, mostly women and children, following a Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023.

Israel is also waging air and ground attacks in Lebanon in an escalation from year-long cross-border warfare between Tel Aviv and Hezbollah since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar