Right-leaning Yesh Atid MK says he’s leaving party to form ‘constructive opposition’
Idan Roll, who has been in Knesset since 2019, says October 7 should be a wake-up call; opposition slams move as vote theft, while government members urge him to join coalition
MK Idan Roll announced Sunday that he is leaving Yesh Atid to form his own faction, drawing an accusation from the opposition party that he was “stealing votes” by staying in parliament.
Roll, who has positioned himself to the right of Yesh Atid during the war in Gaza, wrote on X that the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack needs to serve as a wake-up call. He said he informed Yesh Atid head and Opposition Leader Yair Lapid of his decision on Sunday morning.
“The large and courageous public that rose up on October 7 to fight for the country and restore it must also take its place in the national leadership,” wrote Roll.
“But for this to happen, we must open the closed club of the Knesset and ensure that the State of Israel does not miss a historic opportunity for change.”
Roll, who previously served as Lapid’s deputy in the Foreign Ministry, thanked the Yesh Atid leader and said he would continue to serve as a “constructive opposition” in parliament and “work to open the Knesset to political and intellectual renewal.”
Yesh Atid slammed Roll’s announcement, saying the lawmaker “decided to take a parliament seat that isn’t his” after he was told he would soon be removed from the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee “due to dysfunction.”
The statement compared Roll to other politicians who split from their parties to later joined Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition: Environmental Protection Minister Idit Silman, Diaspora Minister Amichai Chikli and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar.
The Democrats party chairman Yair Golan also slammed Roll, saying his move was “a gift to Netanyahu.”
Members of Netanyahu’s Likud party congratulated the MK, with Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi writing on X: “Idan, the door is open to join a coalition that really cares for the people of Israel.”
Hebrew media reported that Roll’s new faction will be called National Majority. The lawmaker is expected to speak Sunday night at a launch event for his new book, “Opening the Club — Changing the Rules of the Game of Israeli Politics,” which is being distributed by a subsidiary of conservative publishing house Sela Meir. A picture of the book’s cover was appended to Roll’s announcement on X.
Roll’s move comes a month after Sa’ar’s right-wing New Hope party joined the government, lowering the opposition’s representation from 56 to 52 of the Knesset’s 120 seats. While Roll has not indicated he will join the government, his apparent willingness to work with it could spell further trouble for the already diminished opposition.
Should the Knesset House Committee make Roll’s departure from Yesh Atid official, he will be forbidden by law from running in the next election under any party currently in the Knesset — an ordinance put in place to prevent sitting lawmakers from joining rival parties in return for material favors.
First elected to the Knesset in 2019, Roll, an openly gay former model, began his political career as an LGBTQ rights activist. His high visibility as an activist has been due, in part, to his relationship with pop singer Harel Skaat, with whom he has two children.
As deputy foreign minister under Lapid, Roll sought to promote Israel’s image as a leader on LGBTQ rights and climate change in a bid to mend ties with the US Democratic party as it became more critical of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians.
Since October 7, 2023 — when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages, sparking the war in Gaza — Roll has expressed opposition to letting the Palestinian Authority take control of the Strip instead of Hamas, contrary to Lapid’s position.
Possibly presaging his departure from Yesh Atid, Roll submitted draft legislation in June to lower the electoral threshold — the percentage of votes any faction needs to receive to gain representation in parliament — from 3.75 percent to 2%. The bill, which is still in committee, could make it easier for Roll to reenter parliament on an independent slate in the next election, which is scheduled for October 2026. By contrast, Lapid has long supported a high electoral threshold.
