Gideon Saar, who announced on Tuesday night that he is leaving the Likud and forming his own party, quit the Knesset on Wednesday morning.

Sa’ar submitted his resignation letter to Knesset Speaker Yariv Levin. His resignation will go into effect on Friday morning and he will be replaced by Nissim Vaturi, the next candidate on the Likud list.

“I plan on returning to the 24th Knesset as the head of a large political party that will replace the government,” Sa’ar told reporters outside the Knesset Speaker’s office.

גדעון סער נכנס ליו"ר הכנסת יריב לוין להגיש את מכתב התפטרותו מהכנסת: "אני מתכוון לחזור לכנסת ה-24 בראש כוח פוליטי גדול שיחליף את השלטון"@yaara_shapira pic.twitter.com/y4ZXesqHFN

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) December 9, 2020

A new poll seems to corroborate Sa’ar’s hopes, with the first poll since his announcement showing that his New Hope party would win 17 seats, becoming the third-largest party in the Knesset, after Likud and Yamina. According to the poll, Likud would win 25 seats in the next election and Yamina would win 19.

Sa’ar said on Tuesday that he can no longer serve under Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and is challenging him for the leadership of the right-wing sector in Israel.

Several MKs, including the two MKs of the Derech Eretz party, Communications Minister Yoaz Hendel and chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Tzvi Hauser, are expected to join Sa’ar’s new party. Both men are former Netanyahu aides who originally were elected to the Knesset as the most right-wing members of Blue and White but broke off to form their own party before the elections in March.

Likud MK Michal Shir, who is close to Sa’ar, is also expected to join his new party.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)