Former Chief of Staff Moshe Ya’alon declares new party

Moshe Ya’alon will head a new party going into April’s elections in Israel.

By World Israel News Staff

Former Defense Minister and IDF Chief of Staff Moshe “Bogie” Ya’alon announced a new party to compete in the coming elections for the 21st Knesset in a Facebook video on Tuesday.

“All my life I was a soldier in the state, I call on you to come under the stretcher,” he said in the video, referring to a well-known training ritual among IDF soldiers where they practice carrying their fellow wounded soldiers.

In the social media video, Y’aalon declared, “I promised and I am fulfilling that promise. I am starting out as a party leader with political power under my leadership for the upcoming elections which are so crucial to Israel.”

“In the list I will present soon you will find the good Land of Israel with clean hands,” he said, an apparent reference to the many corruption cases facing Israel’s current leadership.

The former defense minister appealed for a merging of parties to better compete in the elections. “I also call for a combination of forces to put an alternative to the leadership of the state and work to advance it. The time has come for us to take responsibility.”

In his plea for a united front, Yaalon echoed the call of former Prime Minister Ehud Barak, who also served as IDF chief of staff and defense minister. In a Monday interview with Israel Radio, Barak said that only a bloc of several parties could beat Likud and its leader Benjamin Netanyahu.