Tropper, Hendel split, with Zionist Home leader set to join Eisenkot’s Yashar

By Ariela Karmel

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6 September 2026, 12:01 pm

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Ariela Karmel is a political correspondent at The Times of Israel. She previously reported for Calcalist and Haaretz. She holds an MA in Middle Eastern and African History from Tel Aviv University and a BA in Political Science from the University of British Columbia.

Yoaz Hendel and Chili Tropper attend a campaign event in Jerusalem, on August 5, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Chili Tropper’s Zionist Home and Yoaz Hendel’s Reservists party are splitting their recently formed center-right alliance, the Reservists party announces, as Hebrew media reports that Tropper is set to join Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar party ahead of Tuesday’s deadline for parties to submit their Knesset slates.

According to the reports, Tropper is expected to receive a spot among the top five candidates on Yashar’s slate, while his Zionist Home colleagues, bereaved family members Shira Shapira and Elyasaf Peretz, will receive realistic spots further down the list.

Hendel and his Reservists will not join Yashar.

In a statement announcing the split, the Reservists party says that Tropper and Hendel had each made “a personal decision” in light of the “complicated political reality,” while stressing that their longstanding friendship and “ideological partnership” remains intact.

Tropper, who quit Benny Gantz’s Blue and White in May, and Hendel joined forces this summer and established the Zionist Home-Reservists just last month, with the stated goal of helping establish as broad a “Zionist government” as possible. The party failed to rise in the polls and was hovering around the 3.25% electoral threshold.

The move comes as Yashar has emerged as the dominant party in the opposition in recent polls, running neck-and-neck with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud at around 26 seats. Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid’s B’Yachad alliance, with which Tropper also held talks, has meanwhile slid to around 14 seats.

B’Yachad is expected to announce its final slate today while Yashar will do so tomorrow. Parties have until Tuesday to submit their final candidates lists for the October 27 election.