Who they are
Sa'ar was born in Tel Aviv in 1966 to a paediatrician who immigrated from Argentina and a teacher of Bukharan descent. He studied law at Tel Aviv University, reported for Hadashot and Channel 2 News, then served as cabinet secretary under Netanyahu and Sharon. He entered the Knesset in 2003 and was education minister from 2009 to 2013. He founded New Hope in December 2020 and merged it back into Likud in 2025.
Positions and record
Diplomacy: Manages wartime diplomacy and pushes back on European pressure.
Judiciary: As foreign minister, co-authored the 2025 Levin-Sa'ar judicial overhaul package with Justice Minister Levin and ruled out negotiating its core elements -- a reversal from his opposition-era criticism of the original 2023 reform.
Security: Opposes a Palestinian state; hawkish on territorial concessions.
Where they stand
Breaks with the party line on 2 issues, marked below.
Judea & Samariaparty lineSovereignty over every part of the Land of Israel, pursued through budgets and construction rather than annexation bills, and no Palestinian state.
Two states / withdrawalSovereignty / annexation
Gaza & Securityparty lineNo withdrawal on anyone else's timetable: it slowed and limited the withdrawal in the American plan and made it turn on Hamas disarming first.
Deal & disengagementFull military control
Haredi Enlistmentpersonal positionAnnounced his party would vote against the 2024 Haredi daycare law, saying it would signal encouragement of evasion from IDF service
Universal draftPreserve exemptions
Judiciaryparty lineThe judicial selection law takes effect with the next Knesset, giving the coalition the decisive voice in appointments. No override clause is sought.
Court can strike lawsKnesset can override
Economyparty lineA national liberal movement for the free market and social equality together, with government out of the economy as far as it can go.
Social spendingFree market
Educationpersonal positionAs education minister withheld 11 million shekels from Haredi schools that refused the core curriculum, the cut the party's line says it never makes
State runs the schoolsParents and communities
Religion & Stateparty lineThe religious status quo, governed with its Haredi partners, alongside a guarantee of freedom of conscience.
Civil / pluralistReligious authority
Nation & Citizenshipparty lineThe Nation-State Law and Jewish self-determination, set beside equal rights for every citizen and the integration of minorities into the state.
Equal citizenshipJewish national state
