New centrist party: The Reservists, ex-minister & family members of war heroes join forces aiming at unity gov't

The Reservists’ Party of Yoaz Hendel and former minister Chili Tropper announced the creation of a new political platform on Tuesday, aiming to shore up centrist support to create a “broad Zionist government” in the coming elections.

The alliance with the tentative name of “Yesodot Yisrael,” meaning “Foundations of Israel,” will reportedly be led by Tropper, with Hendel in the second spot, according to Israeli media reports.

The two former commando soldiers, who both live in a moshav near Jerusalem, had also been in negotiations with Benny Gantz’s Blue and White party, which Tropper left in May. However, negotiations with Gantz and his prospective partner, former Fire and Rescue chief Dadi Simhi, reportedly collapsed this week.

Tropper and Hendel will be joined by two well-known bereaved family members of war heroes.

Shira Shapira is the mother of Aner Shapira, who was killed by Hamas terrorists after throwing several grenades out of a bomb shelter to save those inside. Shapira most recently served as Deputy Director-General for Tekuma at the Ministry of Heritage, and has established a foundation to commemorate her son’s heroism.

“Shira brings with her extensive public-sector experience, proven executive ability, and a broad perspective, but above all she brings humanity, sensitivity, and responsibility—values that we need today more than ever,” Tropper said.

In addition, educator, social activist and active reserve soldier Elyasaf Peretz has also joined the party. Peretz is the bereaved brother of Lt. Uriel Peretz and Maj. Eliraz Peretz, who were killed fighting in Lebanon in 1998 and in Gaza in 2010, respectively, and has served over 450 days of reserve duty since the start of the war.

Tropper and Hendel, both also active reserve soldiers, have strongly advocated for a broad unity government with all Zionist parties that will heal the rifts in Israeli society, particularly by fairly sharing the burden of military service.

To that end, they strongly support new and stricter legislation forcing ultra-Orthodox men to enlist in the IDF, a demand also presented by the left-leaning bloc, while opposing any alliance with the Arab parties, a demand mainly present among the right-leaning parties.

According to Israeli media reports, talks with Gantz and Simhi broke down over their refusal to publicly rule out joining a future government with the Haredi parties, as Hendel had demanded.

The centrist parties of Gantz and Simhi, Tropper and Hendel, as well as the yet-undeclared potential party of former Likud lawmaker Yuli Edelstein and Ayelet Shaked could become the kingmakers after the coming elections.

With the current Netanyahu and anti-Netanyahu blocs projected to miss out on an outright majority, a strong showing from one of the parties, or a potential future alliance between them, could allow them to choose which bloc to grant a majority.

However, Gantz has avoided explicitly ruling out the Haredi parties as a potential coalition partner, as this would require more parties from the anti-Netanyahu bloc to agree to work with the prime minister to reach a majority, which currently appears highly unlikely.

Various leaders quickly congratulated the new party, signaling their intent to pull them to their side.

Gadi Eisenkot, whose Yashar Party also absorbed several former Blue and White lawmakers – and colleagues of Tropper – sent his congratulations on 𝕏, praising Tropper as “an experienced, unifying leader who deserves to play a central role in the national rehabilitation Israel so urgently needs, and to be an important voice in the Zionist, statesmanlike government we will establish.”

Gantz also praised Tropper and Hendel for “joining the effort we are leading to establish the bloc of Israel,” adding that he wants to create “a government that doesn’t rely on Arab or Haredi parties.”

Tropper began his political career in the Labor Party, before joining Gantz’s Blue and White and serving as Minister of Culture and Sports for some three years.

Hendel began his path in politics as part of the Telem party led by former Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon, which then also banded together with Blue and White. Hendel served as Communications Minister, but later joined Gideon Sa'ar's party New Hope, and then the Yamina party that was led by Ayelet Shaked, for a short while, before taking a break from politics.