Former minister Ayoub Kara agreed to enter the Knesset on Friday after two days of deliberations.
Kara, who was the first Druze minister to hold a portfolio, was set to become an MK again, because he was next on the Likud list following the resignation on Wednesday of Sharren Haskel.
But he initially said he was not sure whether he would agree to enter the Knesset, because he did not want to lose his job working for a sheikh in Dubai. In a video he released on Friday, Kara said the sheikh was very happy to help Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
He initially said his decision would also depend on whether there would be primaries for the next Likud list for Knesset. He did not get a response to that request, but he said Friday that he decided to return anyway due to the departures from the party, which would help him move up the list, even if there is no primary.
"After a conversation this morning with Knesset Speaker Yariv Levin and messages from tens of thousands of Likud members, I decided to return to the Knesset and to help Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu win the election," Kara said.
When the resignation from the Knesset of MK Ze'ev Elkin on Thursday takes effect on Sunday, he will be replaced in the Knesset by the next name on the Likud list, a female party activist named Matti Yogev.
If anyone else in Likud resigns, the next name on the list is former MK Yehudah Glick.
Glick said he did not believe any other MK in Likud would resign.
Ayoub Kara to @Gil_Hoffman: "I am going to help @netanyahu win the election." https://t.co/2gIaV6ppvE pic.twitter.com/6mj3PS3RtD
— The Jerusalem Post (@Jerusalem_Post) December 25, 2020