Blue and White MK defects to Likud

Andrey Kozhinov replaces him on list.

By GIL HOFFMAN
Freshman Knesset member Gadi Yevarkan lights a candle in memory of the victims of the Holocaust at the Knesset's annual “Every Person Has a Name” ceremony, May 2 2019. (photo credit: KNESSET SPOKESMAN'S OFFICE)
Freshman Knesset member Gadi Yevarkan lights a candle in memory of the victims of the Holocaust at the Knesset's annual “Every Person Has a Name” ceremony, May 2 2019.
(photo credit: KNESSET SPOKESMAN'S OFFICE)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu succeeded in wooing Ethiopian-born MK Gadi Yevarkan from Blue and White on Wednesday, the last day for parties to submit their lists to the Central Elections Committee.
Netanyahu persuaded Yevarkan to come by committing to extensive steps to help Ethiopian immigrants. Netanyahu had an extra slot available on the Likud list, because Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon is not running for reelection, and he decided to use it on Yevarkan, who helped sway tens of thousands of voters from Likud to Blue and White.
“It is no secret that I have criticized the prime minister in the past but what drives me is only the future of the state and the future of the community that has trusted me time after time,” Yevarkan said. “I have an ethical obligation to my dear community to resolve their urgent problems.”
Yevarkan, who was Blue and White’s 33rd candidate, will be 20th on the Likud list. He was also offered to join Likud after the April election, when Netanyahu needed only one MK to jump ship to be able to form a coalition.
The head of the Central Elections Committee, Supreme Court Judge Neil Hendel, ruled on Wednesday that a candidate cannot tell one party that he will run with them, and then run on another list. But he was expected to permit Yevarkan to run.
Yevarkan was recruited to Blue and White by Moshe Ya’alon, as part of his right-wing Telem Party. He previously ran for Knesset with Likud.
He made a name for himself on the day when he was sworn into the Knesset, when he kissed the feet of his mother who helped him reach Israel from Ethiopia as a small child.
Ya’alon said he had decided together with Blue and White leader Benny Gantz to remove Yevarkan from the Blue and White list because “his behavior testified to his values.”
Yevarkan will be replaced on the list by the campaign’s Russian language spokesman Andrey Kozhinov.