Opposition Lawmaker Saar to Join Israeli Government, Netanyahu Says

Israeli Minister of Justice Gideon Saar arrives for the first weekly cabinet meeting of the new government in Jerusalem, Sunday, June 20, 2021. (Emmanuel Dunand/Pool Photo via AP, File)
Israeli Minister of Justice Gideon Saar arrives for the first weekly cabinet meeting of the new government in Jerusalem, Sunday, June 20, 2021. (Emmanuel Dunand/Pool Photo via AP, File)
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Opposition Lawmaker Saar to Join Israeli Government, Netanyahu Says

Israeli Minister of Justice Gideon Saar arrives for the first weekly cabinet meeting of the new government in Jerusalem, Sunday, June 20, 2021. (Emmanuel Dunand/Pool Photo via AP, File)
Israeli Minister of Justice Gideon Saar arrives for the first weekly cabinet meeting of the new government in Jerusalem, Sunday, June 20, 2021. (Emmanuel Dunand/Pool Photo via AP, File)

Israeli opposition lawmaker Gideon Saar is joining Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, Netanyahu announced on Sunday, in a move likely to strengthen the premier politically.

The hawkish Saar, who has been one of Netanyahu's most vocal critics in the past few years, was due to serve as a minister without a portfolio and take a seat at the prime minister's security cabinet, Israeli television station N12 said.

Expanding the government will likely strengthen Netanyahu by making him less reliant on other members of his coalition government.

Saar had hoped to replace Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, another rival of Netanyahu’s. But a deal to become defense minister fell through several weeks ago after fighting intensified with Hezbollah.



Pope Francis, Asked about Israeli Strikes, Slams Attacks That Go ‘Beyond Morality’

Pope Francis talks to journalists on the flight back to Rome at the end of his four-day visit to Belgium and Luxembourg, September 29, 2024. (Reuters)
Pope Francis talks to journalists on the flight back to Rome at the end of his four-day visit to Belgium and Luxembourg, September 29, 2024. (Reuters)
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Pope Francis, Asked about Israeli Strikes, Slams Attacks That Go ‘Beyond Morality’

Pope Francis talks to journalists on the flight back to Rome at the end of his four-day visit to Belgium and Luxembourg, September 29, 2024. (Reuters)
Pope Francis talks to journalists on the flight back to Rome at the end of his four-day visit to Belgium and Luxembourg, September 29, 2024. (Reuters)

Pope Francis, asked on Sunday about Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah as well as non-combatants, criticized military attacks that he said go "beyond morality".

On the flight back to Rome from Belgium, the pontiff said countries cannot go "over the top" in using their military forces. "Even in war there is a morality to safeguard," he said. "War is immoral. But the rules of war give it some morality."

Responding to a question during an in-flight press conference about Israel's latest strikes, the 87-year-old pope said: "Defense must always be proportionate to the attack. When there is something disproportionate, you see a tendency to dominate that goes beyond morality."

Francis, as leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics, often makes calls for an end to violent conflicts, but is usually cautious about appearing to determine the aggressors. He has spoken more openly in recent weeks about Israel's military actions in its nearly year-long war against Hamas.

Last week, the pope said Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon were "unacceptable" and urged the international community to do everything possible to halt the fighting. In a Sept. 28 press conference, he decried the deaths of Palestinian children in Israeli strikes in Gaza.

Francis said on Sunday he speaks on the phone with members of a Catholic parish in Gaza "every day". He said the parishioners tell him about conditions on the ground, and "also the cruelty that is happening there".