Former Blue and White MK and minister Chili Tropper, who is running in the upcoming Knesset elections in a slate with Yoaz Hendel’s Reservists party, says in an interview with Channel 12 that he would “absolutely not” help Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu form a majority.
“I have a principled, moral statement: everyone who was in a leadership position on October 7 should end their role,” he declares, referring to the Hamas-led terror invasion in 2023.
Tropper says he is aiming to win the votes of the “300,000 Israelis who say they have no political home.”
He also says he would not join a coalition with Arab parties, saying he is “in favor of a Zionist government only.”
MK Chili Tropper (left) and former minister Yoaz Hendel hold a joint press conference announcing the formation of a new political party ahead of the upcoming elections in Tel Aviv, on July 7, 2026. (Flash90)
Noting that this distinguishes him from Gadi Eisenkot, the leader of the Yashar party, who has risen in polls in recent months as the frontrunner for the opposition, Tropper says: “I really like and appreciate him and we’re on good terms, but I’m in favor of a Zionist government only.”
He clarifies that he is not questioning Eisenkot’s Zionism, “but I’m talking about my position.”
“The ultra-Orthodox and Arab parties chose not to be part of the Zionist story,” he says. “This is as far from hatred as there is, but Israel needs a Zionist government today.”
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