Saar was elected in first place in the primaries for the Likud Knesset list of candidates, in both 2008 and 2012. In 2013, Gideon Saar was appointed Minister of the Interior.

In 2014, He announced his decision to take a break from political life, and in November he resigned as a member of the government and the Knesset. During the time-out, Saar served as a senior fellow at the Israel Institute for National Security Studies (INSS). In addition, he has served as a lecturer in government and reform at the Ono Academic College, and as a special adviser with GKH Law Firm.

After around four years, Saar returned to politics and was elected 4th on the Likud list for the 21st Knesset. In the run-up to the March 2020 elections, he ran in the primaries for the Likud leadership, against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

In December 2020, after more than 20 years in senior positions, Gideon Saar announced the establishment of a new national movement under his leadership, and declared his candidacy for prime minister against Benjamin Netanyahu.