Edelstein Quits Likud for New Political Path

Ynet reported at 17:03 IDT that former Knesset speaker Yuli Edelstein said he will leave Likud and not run in its primaries, declaring in an excerpt from N12's Meet the Press that he will take a new political path. The report notes Edelstein has been in Likud since Yisrael BaAliyah merged into it in 2003, served as Knesset speaker from 2013 to 2020 and was removed last year from the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee after opposing the coalition's Haredi draft-law track. Edelstein himself posted this week that he voted against Basic Law: Torah Study, while earlier Walla and Ynetnews reporting traced the emerging national-right framework. The move could reshape voters who want security, service responsibility and respect for Torah communities before the election.