Ya'alon Reaches Out To Donors, Hinting At Possible New Party

The Jerusalem Post reports: Former defense minister Moshe Ya’alon hinted at a political run in the near future in a letter obtained by The Jerusalem Post he wrote to past campaign donors.

In the letter – written in English and circulated to scores of donors via email – Ya’alon, who resigned May 20 to protest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to replace him with Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman, expressed some of the same frustration with the current state of Likud that he exhibited in the speech announcing his resignation.

The letter was additional evidence of widespread speculation that Ya’alon is planning a return to politics and that he could establish and lead a new political party that would directly compete with the Likud for voters on the Right. Names that have been mentioned as possible running mates include former Likud minister Gidon Sa’ar, as well as former IDF chief-of-staff Gabi Ashkenazi.

“I entered politics out of a sense of commitment to the State of Israel and its security, and for this reason I am not considering quitting the public or political arena,” he wrote to the donors. “I regard this period as a ‘time-out’ after which I intend to return and run for Israel’s national leadership.”