Knesset Member Yuli Edelstein, a senior lawmaker who has served in several leadership roles during his decades in office, announces he is leaving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party.
“I do not intend to run in the Likud primaries, I am setting off on a new political path,” Edelstein says, in an interview with Channel 12’s “Meet the Press,” that will air in full tomorrow evening.
The statement is made in a short clip shared by the network that does not include further comments on his reasoning or his plans for the future.
Edelstein, who has represented Likud since 2003, was ousted last year from his role as chair of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee over his refusal to advance a bill that would enshrine broad exemptions from mandatory military service enjoyed by ultra-Orthodox men.
He has long been seen as an internal rival of Netanyahu, and in 2021 even launched a campaign to challenge him as Likud party leader, before ultimately dropping the bid.
Likud primaries are set for August 4, ahead of national elections that must be held by late October.
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