Blue and White MK Chili Tropper quits party, raising speculation about his future |
Blue and White lawmaker Chili Tropper said Sunday he is leaving the party, making him the fourth faction lawmaker to depart in the past year, following a series of exits by senior lawmakers who later joined Yashar, a new party established by former Blue and White number two Gadi Eisenkot.
Tropper said he is “leaving a place that has been a political home for me.” In the coming weeks, he said, he will meet with “anyone I believe should be part of rebuilding the country’s leadership,” before deciding on what path he will take to “contribute most effectively to the people of Israel.”
Hebrew media outlets commonly speculated that an obvious choice for Tropper would be to join Yashar.
Calling the departure “a painful day for me,” Blue and White leader Benny Gantz said in a statement that Tropper made “a painful decision” following extended deliberation.
He noted that Tropper had played a major role in founding Blue and White, and said he was “the first person I brought in to help build the party, from selecting the people to shaping the platform, and he was with me at every decision-making juncture.”
Hours after Tropper’s announcement, the Kan public broadcaster reported, without citing sources, that Gantz was considering dropping out of running in the election this year’s election, though his spokesman denied the claim.
Tropper entered the Knesset in 2019 with Blue and White, and would later serve as culture and........