Eli Avidar at press conference Tuesday
Eli Avidar at press conference TuesdayYonatan Sindel/Flash 90

Minister without portfolio Eli Avidar (Yisrael Beytenu), a supporter of the change coalition who has also been a frequent critic of the government’s handling of the COVID pandemic, announced his resignation from the government Tuesday.

Speaking at a press conference Tuesday afternoon, Avidar said that in addition to resigning as a minister, he would break away from the Yisrael Beytenu party, becoming an independent MK.

Avidar blasted Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, comparing him to his predecessor, Benjamin Netanyahu – a frequent target of Avidar’s barbs.

“Bennett has proved that he does not feel obligated to uphold the rotational agreement,” said Avidar. “Shaked is dictating his policies.”

Bennett, Avidar continued, “was raised by Netanyahu, and is trying to imitate him at every turn.”

Despite his departure from the government, Avidar will remain a part of the coalition, and vowed to use his influence as the coalition’s 61st vote to pressure it to “fulfill its promises”.

“Just minutes ago, I submitted my letter of resignation from the government, three months too late. The government’s policies over the past few months have made my continued presence in it unbearable. I will ensure that the government will fulfill its promises to the public which brought it to power.”

Avidar, a frequent critic of the government, was among the strongest supporters of its establishment in 2021, advocating vocally for an end to the previous Netanyahu government.

After embracing the government’s formation last year, relations between Avidar and the coalition soured, in part over the coalition’s failure to assign him a portfolio, leaving him as a minister without authority over any government office.

Avidar has also criticized the government over policy, including his critiques of COVID restrictions and what he described as the excessive force used by authorities in dispersing non-violent protests against the Green Pass vaccine passport.

“This government is liable to fall because of needless COVID restrictions which crush the freedoms and livelihoods of citizens,” Avidar said earlier this month. “The democratic public won’t forgive the politicians who took their vote, entered a government, then trampled their freedoms and income. The era of fraud is over.”

On Sunday, Avidar raged against the eviction of anti-COVID restriction protesters outside of the Knesset, tweeting; “There was a brutal and violent eviction last night of the protest tent outside the Knesset against the emergency authority law. Without any eviction order, without any warning, with the same trick: the police came to ‘help the city’. Citizens involved in the quiet protest were violently evicted. Nothing has changed since the previous government. What an embarrassment.”

Avidar's press conference Tuesday comes less than a day after Defense Minister Benny Gantz and his Blue and White party announced they would boycott votes on bills in the Knesset plenum, in protest of the failure to promote their law on the expansion of military pensions.

A senior party official told Kan 11 News that "Bennett and Lapid must handle this, otherwise the government will disintegrate. It is impossible for those who are on the margins to lead and run the government, it will not last."