Yaalon breaks away from Lapid’s Future party

Israel’s main parties continue to splinter ahead of the March 23 general election. On Sunday, former army chief Moshe Ya’alon split his party away from the opposition Future grouping led by Yair Lapid, opting to run alone at the head of his own segment. This was Future’s second breakup. Last May, Benny Gantz led his faction into a government coalition with Likud’s Binyamin Netanyahu. Gantz is now preparing independently against his former ally in the coming vote.

Lawmaker Gideon Saar earlier defected from Likud to establish a new party. Last week, Tel Aviv Mayor, Ron Huldai created “The Israelis” to run against the gathering host of parties. Not all these offshoots can expect to make it to places in the 120-member Knesset. They join three veterans in a logjam of six partisan politicians fighting for the same goal: Netanyahu’s removal from power (“Anyone but Bibi”) with all six declaring their overriding fitness to replace him.