Yesh Atid MK Michal Shir announced that she is leaving the party and will not seek reelection in a post on X/Twitter on Friday, becoming the latest lawmaker to depart the party amid a growing wave of exits.
"I shared with Yesh Atid chairman and former prime minister, my friend Yair Lapid, that I do not wish to run in the next Knesset election, while expressing my full confidence in him, in my colleagues in the party, which I will remain in and support, and in the need to lead significant change and correction in Israel," Shir said.
According to Friday’s Maariv poll, B’Yachad, the party Yesh Atid merged with at the beginning of the election campaign, is currently projected to hold 15 seats, making it the third-largest party.
Shir’s announcement followed MK Karin Elharrar’s decision on Thursday to leave the party. MKs Debbie Biton and Tatiana Mazarsky also announced on Wednesday that they would not run in the upcoming election.
The four lawmakers join a growing list of Yesh Atid MKs who have already announced their departures: Meir Cohen, Mickey Levy, Elazar Stern (who joined the party of Gadi Eisenkot), Ron Katz, Yoav Segalovich (who joined Ra’am), Orna Barbivai, Boaz Toporovsky, Yoel Razvozov and Idan Roll.
Party slate reshuffle
Ahead of the presentation of its new candidate list, Yesh Atid is facing a significant reshuffling of its lineup, with political sources already voicing harsh assessments of the party’s situation.
"Look at what is happening there," a political source familiar with the developments said. "This is a party that was established in 2013. In its first election it won 19 seats, and in the last election 24, and it is simply ending."