Reserve Gen. Rafael Eitan, who was chief of staff during the Lebanon war, announced Monday that he is quitting Tehiya, the right-wing ultranationalist party he joined five years ago.
He gave as his reasons personal differences with his former political ally, Geula Cohen, a leading Tehiya activist. He asked the Knesset presidium to recognize him officially as a one-man Knesset faction.
Eitan made his announcement after his Tzomet faction list was defeated by a vote of 133-118 in elections to Tehiya’s central committee. His departure was seen as a victory for Cohen and Tehiya leader Yuval Neeman.
But it was clearly a blow to the party, which split from Herut nine years ago after Menachem Begin, then premier, signed the peace treaty with Egypt.
Prior to the internal crisis that precipitated Eitan’s departure, Tehiya did well in public opinion polls, and political observers had predicted the party would enlarge its four-member Knesset representation in next year’s elections.
Now they believe Tehiya will lose votes to Likud and Rabbi Meir Kahane’s extremist Kach party.
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