Michal Kotler-Wunsh (Rami Zarenger)
MK Michal Cotler-Wunsh announced on Tuesday that she will not run as a candidate for Blue and White in the March elections, as the apparent disintegration of the party continued.
“It is the role of responsible, honest leadership to identify, realize and represent the public in order to restore trust and renew hope,” Cotler-Wunsh said in a statement. “I am committed to continue serving, with courage and humility.”
Cotler-Wunsh was only sworn into the Knesset in June, under the so-called Norwegian law that enables ministers to give up their positions as Knesset members in order to enable a different member of their party slate to take their spot in parliament.
Justice Minister Avi Nissenkorn seen at the Knesset, October 21, 2020. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Justice Minister Avi Nissenkorn announced Tuesday he is joining Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai’s new party, in a major blow to Defense Minister Benny Gantz’s moribund Blue and White party ahead of Knesset elections in March.
A statement from Huldai’s spokesman said Nissenkorn informed Gantz of the move.
“We’ll bring good tidings to hundreds of thousands of Israelis who feel they have no political home and we’ll do this with actions, not words,” Nissenkorn said in the statement.
Gantz spoke with Nissenkorn on Tuesday afternoon and asked him to resign his position as justice minister, Blue and White said in a statement.
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Foriegn Minister Gabi Ashkenazi attends a plenary session at the Knesset, in Jerusalem on August 24, 2020. (Oren Ben Hakoon)
The Blue and White party’s No. 2, Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi, is set to announce in the coming days that he is leaving the party and will likely take a break from politics, Hebrew media reports said Tuesday.
Ashkenazi will declare that he is not running in the coming March elections by Wednesday, according to Channel 12 news and Haaretz.
The reports came hours after Gantz fired his Justice Minister Avi Nissenkorn, who earlier in the day delivered a blow to Blue and White’s election campaign by announcing he was leaving the party to join a rival center-left movement being set up by Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai. Huldai’s party was set to kick off his campaign on Tuesday night.
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Knesset members Asaf Zamir and Miki Haimovich attend the ceremony marking Remembrance Day for Israel s fallen soldiers and victims of terror, at Rabin Square in Tel Aviv, on May 7, 2019 (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)
Blue and White chairman Benny Gantz has informed MKs Asaf Zamir and Miki Haimovich that they will not be included on the party’s electoral slate for the March 2021 election due to their decision to vote against extending the budget deadline last week, ultimately causing the fall of the government.
Zamir and Haimovich were two of the three Blue and White MKs to vote against the budget extension, felling the bill by 49-47 votes. (The third was Ram Shefa.) Their votes set the course for the dissolution of the government a day later, triggering elections the fourth in two years which will be held on March 23.
Defense minister cancels press conference Saturday; officials in his party say slate needs a 'significant' shakeup if it's to survive the upcoming election