Yaalon and his party drop out of March election race
Moshe Ya’alon, former chief of staff and defense minister, took his Telem party out of the election contest on Monday, three days before the deadline for the submission of slates for the March election. Nearly two years ago, Ya’alon quit Likud and joined Benny Gantz and Yair Lapid in setting up a bloc of new parties dedicated to unseating Binyamin Netanyahu. After breaking away from that bloc for an independent run last month, his poll ratings tanked well below the parliamentary 2,75pc threshold. The former general said he remains ready to serve the country in any way he can.