Foreign Minister,Yisrael Katz, spoke today (Tuesday) to Likud activists, responding to calls by Likud MK Gideon Sa'ar to pressure Netanyahu, from the position of Prime Minister. "The personal attacks against the prime minister by Gideon Sa'ar, in this sensitive time, for the prime minister personally and for the party, and calling on him to resign, is, in my opinion, crossing a red line. It looks like the beginning of an attempt to split Likud." "We have to separate the legitimate right to run for head of Likud from the attempt to force out the prime minister. It is illegitimate to try and force primaries or to attempt to gather signatures to create a government led by Gantz and supported by Meretz, as some Sa'ar supporters are attempting." "I support Netanyahu, if we are forced into new elections, and I will work to block people trying to force him out." Earlier on Tuesday , Gideon Sa'ar called for Netanyahu to resign in light of the political stalemate and his inability to form a government. "Netanyahu should take responsibility, not because of the criminal charges but because of the political situation. If i was in his place, I would take the blame and quit, allowing the party to continue down a democratic path," Sa'ar said to Reshet Bet . Sources close to Netanyahu responded to Sa'ar, saying "it's a shame that Sa'ar didn't listen to the Likud activists who said that the 'Likud is family, you don't betray family'."
