Hadash-Ta'al chairman MK Ayman Odeh is retiring from politics after eight years as leader of the Hadash party, Channel 12 News reported.
Odeh, who formed and led the Joint Arab List which combined the Hadash, Ta'al, Ra'am, and Balad parties, is expected to formally announce his retirement to his party members later this evening.
Odeh is expected to remain in the Knesset for a time, but he will not run in the next Knesset elections or for leadership of the Hadash party.
Sources close to Odeh said that "the purpose of the retirement is to enable the reunification of the Arab parties and to inject new blood into Arab politics in Israel so that it will again be able to dictate the pace of the political arena in Israel."
In his retirement, according to his associates, Odeh seeks to signal to the other veteran Arab MKs that it is time for them to give way to younger legislators.