Long-time Yesh Atid MK Elazar Stern announced on Friday that he would be leaving the party, as well as resigning from the Knesset.
Stern has been a member of the Yesh Atid party since 2015, and previously served as the Intelligence Minister from 2021 to 2022.
In a letter Stern sent to party leader Yair Lapid, the MK said that under Lapid’s leadership “was a political home for me that allowed me to express my positions in various fields and, most importantly, to maintain hope among the majority of citizens of the State of Israel that one day the Judaism of the Jewish and democratic State of Israel will be a uniting Judaism, not an inciting and divisive one.”
He also wrote that Lapid had once told him that the two of them “were friends before politics and we will be friends after it.”
Stern was convinced, he said, that if he remained in Israeli politics, “we will have more plots and collaborations that will allow us to get the State of Israel out of the very serious situation that the current government has brought us into.”
Lapid responded to Stern’s resignation, thanking him for his time in politics and for their friendship.
“Elazar was a partner in many achievements of the Yesh Atid party in Israeli politics, as well as in the establishment of the change government, in which he served as a minister,” Lapid wrote in a post on X/Twitter.
“Elazar was my friend even before politics, and he will remain my friend even after politics. I thank him for long years of friendship and partnership in working for the State of Israel, and I wish him success on his continued path.”
Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot also bid Stern farewell in a post on X.
“Elazar Stern is a committed and experienced public figure whose heart is in the right place, and whose expertise is important and valued,” Eisenkot said.
“In the most recent Knesset, which dragged Israeli society into the abyss and required parliamentary experience and a backbone of iron-clad values, Stern was one of the leading and most prominent figures in the struggle against the Draft Dodger Legislation. Stern and I have a long-standing friendship, and I appreciate his dedication and actions, and I hope to see him continue in public service for the people of Israel.”
Segalovitz announces resignation from Knesset
Earlier this month, former deputy national security minister Yoav Segalovitz also announced his resignation from the Knesset and departure from the Yesh Atid party.
“Over the years, I had the privilege of influencing issues close to my heart, both as a Knesset member and as deputy public security minister,” Segalovitz said. “I would like to thank Yair Lapid, the members of Knesset, and the party’s activists for their partnership, trust, and joint work on behalf of the State of Israel.”
Miriam Sela-Eitam contributed to this report.
