Shay did not indicate if he was joining another party or leaving politics.
Recent opinion polls show Blue and White hovering near the electoral threshold. Gantz entered politics two years ago, vowing to replace Netanyahu, merged his nascent Israel Resilience party with Yesh Atid to form Blue and White, and narrowly failed in three elections to form a coalition without Netanyahu’s Likud.
Defense Minister Benny Gantz seen at the Israeli parliament on November 10, 2020. (Oren Ben Hakoon/POOL)
While Gantz campaigned on the promise that he would not sit in a government with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu so long as the prime minister faces corruption charges, he agreed to do just that in late March 2020, and formed a unity government with Netanyahu in May. Furious, Yesh Atid and a second minor faction (Moshe Ya’alon’s Telem) broke away from Blue and White and went into the opposition. Blue and White has watched its popularity plummet since, leading to a hemorrhaging of lawmakers who have left the party since elections were called last month.