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 lawmake
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Alternate Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Benny Gantz, left, and Minister of Justice Avi Nissenkorn visit at the Jerusalem Municipality on November 10, 2020. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Former justice minister Avi Nissenkorn heavily criticized his erstwhile ally Benny Gantz Friday, days after quitting the Blue and White party and his cabinet post, accusing him of managing talks behind his back with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that would “severely harm the rule of law” and void the justice minister’s powers.
In a Facebook post, Nissenkorn laid into Gantz’s recent conduct as the latter attempted to salvage the coalition with Netanyahu in recent weeks an effort that ultimately failed, with the government collapsing and new elections being called for March.