Report: Ya’alon and Lapid to split, run on separate slates in new election

Former defense minister Moshe Ya’alon will reportedly split from the Yesh Atid party ahead of the upcoming March election, preparing instead to run separately with his Telem party as the political sphere fills up with more and more parties.

Ya’alon and Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid met yesterday to discuss the possibility of remaining together for the election but were unable to come to an agreement on the terms of their continued partnership, Channel 12 news reports.

Yair Lapid (R) and Moshe Ya’alon at a faction meeting at the Knesset on June 24, 2019. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

According to the report, Ya’alon’s Telem is now set to run independently in the elections, unless it eventually teams up with another party to run as a joint slate.

In the previous election, Telem and Yesh Atid ran on a joint slate with Benny Gantz’s Israel Resilience Party under the label of Blue and White, but split from that alliance when Gantz decided to enter into a coalition with Prime Minister Netanyahu.