Blue and White MK Chili Tropper quits party, raising speculation about his political future

Blue and White lawmaker Chili Tropper is leaving the party, chairman Benny Gantz announces, 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 Gadi Eisenkot, the former Blue and White number two.

Calling the departure “a painful day for me,” Gantz says in a statement that Tropper made “a painful decision” following extended deliberation. He notes that Tropper played a major role in founding Blue and White, calling him “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.”

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, raising questions about whether Tropper may join the party as well.

In his own statement, Tropper says he is “leaving a place that has been a political home for me.” In the coming weeks, he says, 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.”

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

In a swift response to the announcement, Eisenkot calls 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 adds.