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| - One challenger hoping to unseat Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in next week's election is his former top lieutenant, now trying to outflank him from the right. When Gideon Saar, a 54-year-old former journalist, defected from Netanyahu's Likud last year to form his own "New Hope" party, he vowed to lead a movement with a clear goal: "replacing Netanyahu". New Hope has since attracted several Likud defectors and promised to restore integrity to Israel's right-wing camp, accusing Netanyahu of placing his personal political interests above the country. Polls late last year indicated the party would take 15 to 20 seats in Israel's 120-member parliament, but its fortunes have dipped, with recent surveys giving it fewer than 10 mandates. But the party hopes that if the election is inconclusive, as expected, Saar could emerge as the only viable choice for prime minister within an ideologically disparate anti-Netanyahu bloc. "He is the only one who can gather everyone around him", said former Netanyahu spokesman Yoaz Hendel, now with New Hope. Saar was elected to Israel's parliament on Likud's ticket in 2003. He served as education minister and interior minister but in 2014 said he was stepping away from politics to spend more time with his family. He returned to the fray in 2017 and scored well in successive Likud primaries, but failed to dislodge Netanyahu from the party leadership in a head-to-head contest in 2019. Saar is widely seen as ideologically to the right of Netanyahu, but with a more collegiate style. He backs Israeli annexation of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, a move Netanyahu agreed to freeze in exchange for diplomatic normalisation deals with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. Like Netanyahu he opposes judicial intervention on constitutional issues and wants to rein in Israel's Supreme Court. A former Likud MP now in New Hope's ranks, Canadian-born Sharren Haskel said the party adheres to Likud's ideological roots from which she said Netanyahu has strayed. Likud under Netanyahu "has abandoned its values," the 37-year-old told AFP. "Few politicians keep their word, (Saar) does," she added. Born in Tel Aviv on December 9, 1966, Saar is married to prominent Israeli TV news anchor Geula Even, with whom he has two young children. He also has children from a previous marriage. Bespectacled and with greying temples, Saar looks more like an accountant than a political predator. Whatever the election outcome, he has pledged not to join a Netanyahu-led coalition. Instead he wants to rally around him an alliance of right and centre parties for change, but his chances of taking pole position look slim. Rivalling New Hope in polls are the centrist Yesh Atid, projected to win 20 seats, and the hard-right Yamina, seen as getting nine. Likud is at the top of the table, with 28 seats. Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid and Yamina's Naftali Bennett see themselves as prime ministerial candidates and baulk at serving under Saar. mib/scw/bs/fz
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