MK Eli Avidar, who is a minister without a portfolio, will not be part of the Yisrael Beytenu party in the next elections, Israel Hayom reported.
Finance Minister Avigdor Liberman, who chairs Yisrael Beytenu, hinted to this decision during a party meeting when he was asked about a recording which was published.
"I am not worried about anything," Liberman said at the meeting. "We will pass a budget, we will pass it smoothly without problems. It's true that we'll keep 'the rules of the genre' - drama, disagreements, and ultimatums - but in the end it will pass."
Regarding the recording, Liberman said, "I never record myself or others, and certainly I don't leak to the media. Eli Avidar decided to take his own path, and I wish him success."
On Monday, Kan journalist Ze'ev Kam published a recording of a private conversation in which Avidar can be heard saying that Liberman "offered me the position of minister in the Finance Ministry. I burst out laughing. I told him thank you very much, that's an important job, but I'll pass."
"If you needed me, you wouldn't have given two ministries to [MK] Oded Forer (Yisrael Beytenu) and left me the connection with the OECD. So at least don't try to fool me. You haven't been known as a liar until now."