MK Amichai Chikli will likely be quitting this Knesset as part of a compromise agreement reached with Yamina, according to a report by Amit Segal. Chikli was declared a rebel MK by his Yamina party. As a result, Chikli can’t run in the next Knesset with an existing party. The compromise says Chikli will pull his court case against Yamina, quit the Knesset, and in exchange Yamina won’t block him from joining another party. Chikli is likely to join the Likud if the compromise agreement is fully approved.
Once Chikli quits the Knesset, Yomtob Kalfon will return to the Knesset. Kalfon was unceremoniously booted from his Knesset seat when then-PM Naftali Bennett had Minister Matan Kahana quit as a minister and return to the Knesset as an MK, under the Norwegian Law. Bennett was afraid that Kalfon might also jump ship and wanted to get rid of him before it was too late, though Kalfon was actually completely loyal.
MKs Nir Orbach and Idit Silman will also need to quit the Knesset soon if they are to run on the Likud (or another party’s) list. The law does not allow an MK to be a member of two parties at the same time. Nor can they break away from Yamina as they are only two MKs. So they will need to quit the Knesset before the new candidate lists are submitted by the parties, if they plan to run again.
Amit Segal pointed out that Chikli may be offered the reserved spot on the Likud list that Orbach was hoping to get.
Perhaps the most interesting development from all these musical Yamina chairs is that American born Jeremy Saltan, the Secretary of the Yamina Party and former native of Skokie Illinios, may have to give up his US citizenship and take up the mantle of his shiny new, but short-lived Knesset seat with the Yamina party, until the elections are over.
We wish Saltan much luck.
Among the other major changes ahead is that Gideon Sa’ar’s New Hope party will be merging with Benny Gantz’s Blue&White party, though not everyone will be surviving the merger, including Yoaz Hendel and Zvi Hauser.
