The Knesset House Committee on Tuesday approved the request of MK Idan Roll to leave the Yesh Atid party. 11 Knesset members voted in favor of the request, and one MK abstained.
MK Roll explained his decision and said, "Israeli society went through an immense upheaval on October 7. From this fracture, a camp developed that wants to put everything before October 6 behind it. To create a liberal agenda, and which understands that a dissonance has been created between what’s happening outside and what’s happening inside the Knesset."
"This house remains oblivious to what’s happening outside. We are at a critical crossroads in the country, and we need to harness all the lessons and the sobering realizations from after October 7 to create a new golden age, or else continue in the current situation with a repeat performance that will not only be a missed opportunity, but a historical injustice," he added.
Roll emphasized, "The rules have changed. It is time for the national majority to have a national agenda. Not a politics of disqualifications, but of substance. The only way this will happen is to lower the electoral threshold and open up this closed club. We all swore allegiance to the State of Israel, not to party leaders."
The chairwoman of the Yesh Atid Knesset faction, MK Merav Ben Ari, responded to his remarks and said, "If you want new politics, then leave and let the new leadership come in." She added that there are different positions within the faction but suggested to MK Roll that he resign and return the mandate to Yesh Atid.
MK Ahmed Tibi criticized Roll's decision, saying that such a resignation is "a flawed political culture." He noted that there is a general consensus among the Knesset members to expel MK Roll, but added that there is karma and predicted that Roll will not be in the next Knesset.
The legislation on the matter stipulates that a Knesset member who resigns from their faction and does not resign from their position will not be able to participate in the next Knesset elections on the candidate list of a party that sends a faction to the outgoing Knesset, and will not be eligible for funding. The faction will not be affected in terms of party funding.