Netanyahu’s ex-environment minister crosses party lines, joins Labor

Avi Gabai, one of the founders of Israel's Kulanu party headed by Finance Minister Moshe Kachlon, announced Thursday morning that he had joined the opposition Labor Party. In a long message posted on Facebook, he asserted that Labor is a "true" alternative to the rule by Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu, not a "synthetic" one like Kulanu, a member of the coalition. The 49-year-old Gabai served for a year as Netanyahu's environment minister but resigned in May.