Eisenkot: 'One of the finest people the Knesset has known'

Blue and White MK Chili Tropper quits party, raising speculation about his future… and Gantz’s

Former minister becomes latest to leave Gantz’s floundering faction, says he’ll meet anyone who will ‘rebuild’ country’s leadership; reports say move to Eisenkot’s party likely

Blue and White lawmaker Chili Tropper said Sunday he is leaving the party, making him the fourth faction lawmaker to depart in the past year, following a series of exits by senior lawmakers who later joined Yashar, a new party established by former Blue and White number two Gadi Eisenkot.

Tropper said he is “leaving a place that has been a political home for me.” In the coming weeks, he said, he will meet with “anyone I believe should be part of rebuilding the country’s leadership,” before deciding on what path he will take to “contribute most effectively to the people of Israel.”

Hebrew media outlets speculated that an obvious choice for Tropper would be to join Yashar.

Calling the departure “a painful day for me,” Blue and White leader Benny Gantz said in a statement that Tropper made “a painful decision” following extended deliberation.

He noted that Tropper had played a major role in founding Blue and White, and said he was “the first person I brought in to help build the party, from selecting the people to shaping the platform, and he was with me at every decision-making juncture.”

Hours after Tropper’s announcement, the Kan public broadcaster reported, without citing sources, that Gantz was considering dropping out of running in this year’s election, though his spokesman denied the claim.

Tropper entered the Knesset in 2019 with Blue and White, and would later serve as culture and sports minister.

He is well-regarded, having spent a number of years in the fields of educational and social work before entering politics, and having donated a kidney to a stranger.

The Ynet outlet reported, without citing sources, that in recent weeks, Tropper received offers from other parties to join their ranks, and had repeatedly warned Gantz that unless Blue and White showed a change in its flagging circumstances in the polls, he would not continue with the party.

For months, polls have shown Blue and White hovering around the electoral threshold, which requires parties to garner at least 3.25 percent of votes to enter the Knesset.

Tropper’s departure follows Eisenkot’s exit last summer to form the Yashar party and the subsequent departures of Matan Kahana and Orit Farkash-Hacohen, who also joined Yashar.

In a swift response to the announcement, Eisenkot called Tropper “a friend and partner” and “one of the finest people the Knesset has known.”

“I would very much like to see him continue in public life to bring change and hope, for a better and stronger Israel,” he added.

Last week, two former prime ministers, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid and Naftali Bennett announced they were uniting their two parties into a combined ticket called “Together – Led by Bennett.” They invited Eisenkot to join them, but he has ruled this out.

A week earlier, Channel 12 had reported that Bennett, Lapid, and Eisenkot were holding contacts on the potential formation of a new joint party called “New Israel.”

A poll by the network after the merger was announced found that the Bennett and Lapid combined electoral slate would win 26 seats if elections were held immediately, placing them ahead of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling Likud as the Knesset’s largest party, but that the balance of power between the pro- and anti-Netanyahu blocs had not shifted. Netanyahu’s right-wing bloc garnered 50 out of 120 Knesset seats while the Zionist opposition parties received 60 and the Arab factions 10.

Elections must take place by October 2026.