A senior Labor Party lawmaker quit Israeli politics.
Danny Yatom announced at Monday’s Labor faction meeting he was leaving the Knesset in protest of corruption in the government.
Labor is a junior partner in the coalition led by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s Kadima Party.
Yatom, a former army general, had a short stint as Mossad chief in the 1990s but had to resign following a
string of high-profile intelligence blunders.
He made a short-lived run for the Labor leadership last year, losing by a wide margin to Ehud Barak and runner-up Ami Ayalon.
Yatom was an especially vocal critic of Olmert’s handling of the Second Lebanon War, as well as graft scandals dogging the prime minister.
As the Year Turns, Support the Journalism You Trust. JTA covers the stories shaping Jewish life around the world — with the depth this moment calls for. As you reflect on the year ahead, consider a gift that keeps independent Jewish journalism strong.
