Hadera Mayor Tzvi Gendelman announced on Thursday that he would be leaving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud Party to join his rival Gideon Sa'ar's New Hope Party, though he would not be running for a Knesset seat.
In a Facebook post, Gendelman said he values his mayoral roles too much to leave office, but that he would be campaigning and supporting New Hope with all of his strength.Gendelman joined the Likud in 2018 after he was expelled from Yair Lapid's Yesh Atid Party following his arrest on suspicion of corruption. He was indicted last month for fraud, breach of trust, obstruction of justice and providing false testimony.
