In another blow to Gantz, MK Michael Biton resigns from Blue and White, says he may form his own party

In a blow to Blue and White chair Benny Gantz, MK Michael Biton announces that he will not run with the party in the upcoming election.

Instead, Biton says in a post on Facebook that he has been “examining the possibility of establishing a social, national, traditional party based on the values of Judaism, Zionism, and democracy.”

He says he will decide on his next steps in the coming hours.

Parties that wish to run in the October 27 election have until tomorrow night to submit their finalized candidate lists to the Central Election Committee.

Biton stresses that he is parting from Gantz as “friends and partners in this journey,” and says that he is “proud of what we have done together for the country in the last seven years.”

His resignation is the latest in a wave of defections from the party in recent months, as opinion polls continue to show it hovering around the electoral threshold.

Several former Blue and White lawmakers, including Chili Tropper and Matan Kahana, have since joined Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar, which he founded after ending his own alliance with Gantz.