Herzog to Remain on as Opposition Leader

Although no longer Labor chairman, MK Yitzchak Herzog will remain head of the opposition, it was decided Wednesday. That’s because the new chairman, Avi Gabbay, is not a Knesset member.

Herzog made the announcement earlier Wednesday, with Gabbay voicing approval. “I am very happy that Yitzchak has accepted my suggestion to remain on as opposition head,” he told a press conference. “We had a very candid talk. I intend to be present in the Knesset, but also in places where people need to be persuaded to join us. We will work together. Our single objective is to win the next election and bring hope back to Israelis.”

Gabbay insisted that since his election, “we have gotten a lot of requests to join the party. We intend to reach 100,000 members. We will broadcast our message and be ourselves, and people will join us, we believe. I call on everyone to join us and give us the power to make changes.”

Earlier Wednesday, Gabbay declared that he would not join a government headed by Binyamin Netanyahu. In an interview with TheMarker, Gabbay said that instead of joining the current government, “Labor will set up its own coalition. We intend to win 30 seats in the next election. When I started this, they told me I was aiming high, and they are right. I will use the same tactics that won me the leadership of Labor to propel the party to the leadership of the country. We will bring in voters from all over, from the Likud, Kulanu, Yisrael Beytenu and Shas.”