Gideon Saar, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s rival in the Israeli elections, has hired four Lincoln Project co-founders in his bid for prime minister.
Steve Schmidt, Rick Wilson, Stuart Stevens, and Reed Galen will all reportedly aid Saar ahead of the March 23 contest, according to the Associated Press.
Wilson signaled support for Saar in a tweet on Jan. 11, sharing a flattering article describing the challenger as “telegenic” and “armed with extraordinary political savvy.”
Saar, longtime Netanyahu ally, emerges as his top challenger https://t.co/nyAqXk30ku
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) January 11, 2021
Stevens, another Lincoln Project co-founder reportedly joining the Saar campaign, expressed a similar desire in December 2019 to replace Israel’s prime minister, tweeting, “Let’s see how [Israel] sugars out post-Netanyahu.”
Let’s see how this sugars out post-Netanyahu. https://t.co/1skM402I9X
— stuart stevens (@stuartpstevens) December 5, 2019
Saar, who previously served as Cabinet secretary and government minister in the Netanyahu administration, broke with the prime minister’s Likud party last year, accusing his former boss of weaponizing his political standing for personal gain. Running under the mantle of his New Hope party, Saar has asked Israel to turn the page on the longest-serving prime minister in Israeli history.
“A change in the country’s leadership is needed,” Saar said. “Today, Israel needs unity and stability. Netanyahu can’t, and won’t be able to, provide either.”
Like Saar, the Lincoln Project co-founders have had public fallouts with their prior political allies. Both Wilson and Stevens have previously painted flattering descriptions of Netanyahu in pre-Trump era tweets. Wilson said the prime minister was “rightly” “defiant” during his 2010 American Israel Public Affairs Committee remarks.
And rightly so. RT @benpolitico: Defiant Netanyahu stands his ground in prepared AIPAC remarks http://is.gd/aTD9j
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) March 23, 2010
In 2015, Stevens, who previously worked in Israel, described Netanyahu as a “special force leader [who served] many missions, [was] wounded twice, [and] led assaults into Syria in Yom Kippur War.” The tweet was accompanied by a portrait of a young Netanyahu donning military attire.
Record of @netanyahu: special force leader, many missions, wounded twice, led assaults into Syria in Yom Kippur War. pic.twitter.com/gpANA6RV92
— stuart stevens (@stuartpstevens) March 2, 2015
Founded in 2019, the Lincoln Project’s stated mission is to “[hold] accountable those who would violate their oaths to the Constitution and would put others before Americans.”
The organization did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
