MK Yoni Chetboun
MK Yoni ChetbounFlash 90

MK Yoni Chetboun announced on Sunday night that he is resigning from the Jewish Home party and would not run with the party in the elections in March.

“Over the last two years I realized the importance of the existence of a political framework that preserves the Jewish identity and the values of the Torah in the country,” Chetboun said.

He stressed the importance of “a framework that does not turn its back on the disadvantaged sectors and sees the treatment of peripheral residents as a supreme value. A party that will know to combine these values, placing them as a guiding light and connecting between religious, hareidi and traditional Jews will be the best political home for me.”

According to some speculations, Chetboun intends to join the new party that is currently being formed by Shas MK Eli Yishai.

Earlier on Sunday it was reported that Yishai was not waiting for the results of the talks between Jewish Home chairman Naftali Bennett and Tekuma head Uri Ariel in an attempt to prevent a split, and that his associates have applied to the Party Registrar to register a new party under his leadership.

The name they selected is "Maran," the honorific by which Shas founder and mentor Rabbi Ovadia Yosef ztz”l was known. If the Registrar refuses to accept the name, the party will be called Yahad ("together").

If the talks between Bennett and Ariel fail, Ariel is expected to join Yishai's party. The party will appeal to nationalist hareidi Jews.