MK Nachum Langental (NRP) announced his resignation from the Knesset today, saying he would pursue his doctoral studies and continue to take an active role in public life. He said that he would have quit on the day the new elections were announced, but because there was a possibility that the NRP might merge with National Union-Yisrael Beiteinu, "I feared that I would not have a party to vote for. So I remained in order to fight against the merger, and now that I have succeeded, I can leave." NRP leader Effie Eitam conceded defeat yesterday in his bid for the merger, as all the party's MKs were against the idea. The party thus remains alone carrying the exclusively religious-Zionist banner; it is the successor of the original Mizrachi - the first religious organization within the larger Zionist movement - which was founded about 100 years ago.



Langental's resignation follows MK Rabbi Chaim Druckman's recent announcement that he was retiring from politics. The NRP's Knesset list is thus open to new faces, said former party leader Tourism Minister Rabbi Yitzchak Levy.