Veteran politician Gideon Sa’ar announced tonight that he is resigning from Benjamin Netanyahu’s national unity government because he was not included in the war cabinet.

Sa’ar, who was a minister without portfolio, joined Netanyahu’s government along with other opposition figures after the October 7 Hamas attack. His departure, as well as that of an ally, is not expected to affect the stability of the government, which still has a clear majority in parliament.

Saar was an intra-party rival of Netanyahu in the right-wing Likud party but later joined Benny Gantz’s centrist bloc. Together they joined the government of national unity, but Ganj became a member of the small “war council” where decisions are made, while Saar did not.

“I can’t be held accountable if I don’t have, in my judgment, a real possibility to influence the political agenda. I just don’t see any benefit in all of this,” Saar said. His departure comes as no surprise since earlier this month he had also severed his alliance with Ganj.