MK Elazar Stern informed Yesh Atid chairman Yair Lapid on Friday that he intends to resign from the Knesset, after 11 years in which he served as a Knesset member representing Yesh Atid.
“MK Elazar Stern informed me of his intention to resign from the Knesset after 11 years as a Knesset member representing Yesh Atid," Lapid said. He noted Stern's role in the party's activities and in establishing the government in which he served as a minister.
“Elazar was a partner in many of Yesh Atid's achievements in Israeli politics, as well as in the establishment of the Change Government, in which he served as a minister," Lapid said. “Elazar was my friend before politics, and he will remain my friend after politics."
Lapid concluded his statement by bidding farewell to Stern and wishing him success: “I thank him for many years of friendship and partnership in working on behalf of the State of Israel, and wish him success in whatever comes next."
The resignation announcement raises questions regarding Stern's next move, particularly the possibility that he will join another political framework. Assessments are that Stern intends to join Gadi Eisenkot.
Stern, a retired IDF major general, attended the state-religious Etzion School and the Netiv Meir Yeshiva. In his youth, he also served as a counselor in the Bnei Akiva youth movement. Stern completed his IDF service in 2008 with the rank of major general.
Following his discharge, Stern was also involved in public activities. Among other positions, he served on a voluntary basis as chairman of the Foundation for the Benefit of Holocaust Victims in Israel and chairman of the Ethiopian National Project. In 2009, he published his autobiographical book, Masa Kumta (“Beret Journey").
He began his Knesset career after joining Tzipi Livni's Hatnuah party in late 2012. He was placed fourth on its slate and elected to the 19th Knesset, where he served, among other positions, as a member of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Finance Committee, and Constitution Committee.
Ahead of the elections for the 20th Knesset, Stern left Hatnuah and joined Yesh Atid. He was placed 12th on the party slate and did not initially enter the Knesset following the election results, but subsequently returned to the Knesset following Shay Piron's resignation.
During his years in Yesh Atid, Stern held a series of parliamentary positions. Among other roles, he served on the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, and the House Committee, and previously chaired the State Control Committee.
With the establishment of the government in 2021, Stern was appointed Intelligence Minister. He was later selected as the government's candidate for chairman of the Jewish Agency, but in October of that year announced that he was withdrawing his candidacy following a public controversy sparked by remarks he made in an interview regarding the handling of anonymous complaints during his tenure as head of the IDF Manpower Directorate.
Stern subsequently filed defamation lawsuits against media organizations and journalists over reports concerning the affair, and was awarded compensation in the proceedings.
In the elections for the 25th Knesset, Stern was placed seventh on the Yesh Atid slate and was elected to another term.