Former Interior Minister Avraham Poraz leaning toward Knesset run

By GIL STERN STERN HOFFMAN
Former Interior Minister Avraham Poraz announced in an interview with Israel Radio on Wednesday that he was considering running in the next general election for the Knesset under the banner of the Het party that he formed after the disintegration of Shinui. Poraz brought in Yosef (Tommy) Lapid to head Shinui for the 1999 election and succeeded in winning 6 seats, and then 16 seats in the 2003 race. Poraz said that the reason why he was considering running again was that recent events in Israel had convinced him that there was a need for a secularist party. A group of 35 of former Shinui activists met recently at the home of former minister Ilan Shalgi, and began efforts to reunite Het.